Tigers & Sharks
by Versace.In.My.Trap.House
Summary: How do you try to let go of someone that you love? How does that feel? ... The gang navigate through their last years of high school, that's not an easy task to accomplish with heavy hearts. [Jori-centric]
1. Contagious Chemistry Pt 1

**Sup y'all,**** it's been a loooong time since I wrote fanfic. But I saw that Victorious was on Netflix and couldn't resist I just miss my girls. This story is basically just a rewrite of We Are An Example. I liked the concept for that one but the flow didnt feel right so here we are. I hope you enjoy this, I spent literal years working on the plot for it.**

* * *

**Contagious Chemistry [Pt. 1]**

**Monday**, **February** **6th** **2010**

Jade West absentmindedly tapped her nails to the tune of a familiar beat against the metal top of the gang's usual lunch table in the Asphalt Cafe. She was staring out at the parking lot, lost deep in thought as she waited for this "J" guy to text her back.

"J" was the contact name of the new dealer Andre hooked her up with.

Up until yesterday, she'd been buying her pills and weed from Beck's cousin. But Connor got arrested on a RICO charge, and fucked up her connect. So, she'd asked her recently graduated older brother if he could hook her up with someone who sold in the area.

But no dice, everyone he ever did business with ended up hating Jude.

And so, there she was waiting for some stranger to text her a place to meet at for drugs beca her brother sucked.

She hoped her parents hadn't gone home for lunch, as she was seriously considering blowing off the rest of her classes so she could get fucked up in her room in peace. She'd been on edge the whole day, and there was no need to wonder why.

Her loving mother and father kept her up all night with their heated arguing, as they'd done for the past couple months now. Jade thought about saying something to them but she knew how that would go. Her mother would look at her with those cold eyes and tell her to get over it, while her father would apologise and offer to spend the night at a hotel.

He'd gotten a lot warmer towards her since coming to see her play.

Truthfully, Jade wasn't even concerned with herself, she tried to spend as little time at home as possible. On the rare chance she was home, she was usually high on something to dull her senses.

But her eleven year old brother, Jake, didn't have drugs to numb himself or a boyfriend's bed to crash on. He'd often go to school with bags under his eyes, though Jade suspected it was more than just their parents' arguing that was keeping him up. Jake hated the school he went to, he was always complaining about it to their parents but talking to them was like talking to a brick wall.

Now, when their parents fight, it's about whether or not Jake should go to Hollywood Arts. The kid really had his heart set on going to school with his big sister.

But the thing was, he didn't exactly have talent. Jake could flip his eyelids inside out, but that was pretty much it in the way of creativity.

He couldn't draw, write plays or songs, he didn't know how to play an instrument, or how to carry a note. These were things that her father constantly tried to point out to her mother but the woman wouldn't listen. She insisted Jake be given the same opportunity as Jade.

'Outstanding parenting skills, they really should win Parents Of The Year. Angelina Jolie had nothing on them.' Jade mused.

Another one of the reasons for her stress, was sitting right fucking across from her.

Tori Vega.

Tori had been trying to get back out on the dating scene recently, judging from all the revealing clothes she'd been wearing the last couple weeks. It was the kind of clothing that made Jade suspect that Trina had some kind of influence on Tori's new style

The songstress's outfit today consisted of a red low-cut tank top with thin straps, leaving her neck, shoulders, and cleavage bare. Deliciously on display for everyone to ogle. The tank was tucked into light blue, high-waisted, ripped jeans that complimented Tori's curves very nicely.

The Latina was slowly starting to drive Jade insane, prancing about the hallways looking like a fucking Victoria's Secret model.

Okay, Jade might be exaggerating a bit but Tori honestly wasn't that far off from parading around in her underwear half the time.

It wasn't that Jade didn't like the new outfits, they actually looked good, really good. Tori pulled off the tight clothes a little too well, and that's what bothered Jade. The raven-haired girl just couldn't take this kind of constant torture, being so close but never being able to touch.

Jade could also do without having to constantly threaten bodily harm to anyone that tried to approach Tori. And a lot of people have tried, it was starting to become exhausting but Jade also kinda needed the outlit. She had a lot of tension to get rid of these days.

However, Jade couldn't stop everyone. Every so often, some lucky asshole managed to sneak in and ask Tori when Jade wasn't around. And Jade would have to listen to Tori excitedly tell Cat about this 'really cute' boy that just asked her out.

She only ever stayed long enough to catch the poor bastard's name, then stormed off to hunt him down. Needless to say, Tori's dates almost always end up having to spend their night in the hospital instead of with her.

Whatever happened to being single and proud anyway, damnit?

Jade subconsciously wondered if the Latina's sudden interest in dating again had anything to do with Tori's birthday that had just passed. The Vega parents had opted to have a private celebration this year, meaning no friends and only close family were invited. Apparently, some of Tori's extended family flew in from _Culebra_ for the weekend to celebrate the occasion.

Jade had overheard Tori talking to Cat about how her family could be really overbearing and pushy. Maybe they pushed Tori into thinking she needed a stupid boyfriend.

"Do you mind?" Tori's voice cut irritably into her musings.

Jade stiffened, and her nails stilled against the table top, breaking the rhythm of the song. She feared for a hot moment that her thoughts had been broadcast aloud.

Her eyes slid from the skyline to find Tori looking up at her from the notes she was sharing with Cat in annoyance.

"Not at all. Study your little nerd brains out to your heart's content." Jade responded, flashing her an innocent smile once she realized that the Latina was referring to her obnoxiously tapping the beat to _Make It Shine _on the table.

"It's kinda hard to study when someone is being a troll-goblin." Tori snarked back, eyes narrowed in impatience.

Beck tried to hide his amused smile at Tori's remark by turning his head into his shoulder, but Jade was sitting right next to him and she definitely saw that. She chose to ignore it for the time being, just like she chose to ignore the irritation she felt at having his arm was around her waist. Jade wasn't in the mood for him to touch her right now, his hands were too big and heavy.

The fact that she was jonsing for Tori, also probably did not help.

"Troll-goblin?! Why, I never!" Jade gasped in the voice she loved to tease Tori with, putting a hand over her chest in feigned-offense. Tori merely rolled her eyes at her, slamming her notebook shut and tossing her pencil on top of it in aggravation. Once, it became obvious that Jade wasn't going to let her and Cat get any work done.

"Tori! I wasn't done!" Cat squeaked, jumping back from the sudden action. Tori shot the redhead an apologetic smile before sliding her closed notebook over to her.

"Go for it, Cat. Though, I don't know how you can concentrate with Jade using the table as her personal drum set." The Latina bit out, glaring at Jade pointedly before she turned her back to the table entirely.

Jade frowned, that wasn't the reaction that she was expecting. Nor, was it the one she wanted.

She felt like Tori had just brushed her off, and the Latina never did that to anyone, with the exception of Robbie and Sinjin maybe. But most importantly, Tori never did that to her.

"Um, excuse you, aren't you forgetting something?" Jade demanded, her palms laid flat against table top as she leaned forward to try and get Tori's attention. Tori threw her a confused look over her shoulder.

"What?" The brunette returned dryly, still seemingly a little peeved.

"I don't talk like that." Jade emphasized in a whiny, high-pitched voice that was a complete one-eighty from the usual voice she used to mock the other girl with, raising her eyebrows at Tori incredulously.

"Oh, Jesus," Tori sighed lowly, " I am so not in the mood for you today. Leave me alone, Jade." turning back to look for André. Jade cocked her head back in actual offense this time.

She wasn't gonna lie, that hurt a little. Tori had always acted as though she wanted Jade's approval, even yearned for it at times it seemed. Jade didn't understand it, but she secretly enjoyed it. It was... flattering to have somebody be so desperate for her to like them.

"It's our thing." The darker-haired girl stressed.

Tori swung back around to look at Jade fully on, all the hostility and anger from before were now gone from her features without a trace. Her brows were quirked in intrigue and there was a mischievous smirk on her face. Jade leaned back on the table's bench, regarding the other girl cautiously.

"We have a thing?" Tori inquired coyly, putting her chin on her palm and peering over at Jade in playful curiosity.

"That's not what I... I didn't mean like a thing-thing. I just meant... Shut up, stop looking at me like-"

"I snagged you the last thing of chili cheese fries. Enjoy, Chica." Andre interrupted their banter jovially, setting a tray full of chili cheese fries in front of Tori. He dropped into the empty spot next to her and threw a wink at Jade, silently letting her know that he'd just come to her rescue. She raised her eyebrows at him in acknowledgement over her paper coffee cup.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you? This just made my day!" Tori gasped, beaming at Andre radiantly as she wrapped him up in a grateful hug. Jade looked away from the disgustingly adorable display of friendship and back at her phone, her stomach twisting into tight knots at the sight.

"So, which movie are we seeing tonight, ladies and gents?" Robbie piped up, sliding into the free seat on the other side of Jade.

"Regal is playing Disney movies all weekend." Cat suggested excitedly, her notes now forgotten as she joins the conversation. Tori made a noise of approval at Cat's idea, around a mouthful of food.

"No." The boys and Jade all groaned in unison.

"But tonight is The Aristocats!" Cat pouted, making herself look like a kicked puppy.

"We can always go see it without them, Cat." Tori reassured, swallowing her fries and patting Cat's wrist comfortingly. The redheaded girl clapped happily and stuck her tongue out at the others in triumph.

"Oh no, whatever will we do without the two of you Chatty Katherines talking through the whole movie?" Jade deadpanned, mood having turned even more sour. The comment earned her yet another disapproving glare from Tori, which the darker-haired girl pointedly ignored by glancing down at her phone again.

'Seriously, lunch is almost over. What the hell is taking this dude so long?' Jade seethed silently to herself.

"Disney's cool and all, but we wanted to see From Paris, With Love, 'member Tori?" Andre broke in, elbowing his best friend gently to get her attention.

"Oh yeah! It's a thriller, so you'd like it, Jade." Tori said, bringing the other girl's attention back to the conversation.

Jade, who hadn't really been listening, responded with a non-committal, "Yeah, sure. Sounds good," then proceeded to text her dealer that she was starting to get really impatient. And her getting impatient meant he should either text her back soon, or she going to buy from someone else that had a quicker response rate.

"Eh, thrillers aren't really my thing. What about Dear John? I heard that one could be good." Robbie interjected hopefully, he watched the trailer for it in his Tech class earlier that day and was really interested in seeing it.

Now that, Jade heard and she had no desire in seeing a romantic dramedy, she opened her mouth to vehemently object when Lane approached the table.

Their school guidance councilor looked like he was up to something, the way he was shifting his weight uncomfortably. His eyes kept bouncing nervously between Jade, and the adolescent girl in a yellow cardigan that was following him for some reason.

"Good afternoon, kids." He greeted when he reached them, smiling brightly at the group. Jade had to give him his props for the confident delivery, because he definitely looked like he was about to wet his pants just a few seconds ago. However, Jade wasn't in the mood for this shit right now, and only offered a blank stare as a return greeting. The rest of the gang gave small, confused waves as they peered curiously at the girl.

"This is Pepper, she just moved here from Florida." The councilor introduced, putting a hand on the new student's shoulder like they all didn't know who he was talking about.

"The cool part of Florida or the hillbilly part?" Jade whipped out without missing a beat, studying Pepper with a raised eyebrow as if she were actually interested in where she used to live.

"Don't be a grunch, Jade," Lane reprimanded tiredly, "Now, Pepper needs somebody to help her get settled in here, make her feel like she belongs."

"And what does that have to do with us, Lane? We already took in one stray, don't really have room for another one." Jade said, mocking his tired tone.

Lane was starting to regret coming over to their table, Jade could tell by the way his brow twitched in aggravation. There was also the fact that he was squinting at her like he was trying strangle her with his eyes.

"Tori?" Lane called to the Latina, a hopeful expression on his face as he tried to get her attention.

"Mmrf?" Tori made an inhuman noise, turning to Lane with a startled expression and her cheeks stuffed passed her lips with chili-cheesy-potato-y goodness. It was a very unflattering picture, but for some reason Tori managed to make it cute.

Jade scowled, mentally cursing her subconscious.

She wasn't supposed to find even Tori's disgusting habits cute. Things were getting worse with each passing day, and all she could do was silently suffer. It wasn't like Tori was interested in her, though Jade did catch the Latina looking at her quite often in a very non-heterosexual way.

She brushed that off as wishful thinking however, because Tori was straight, it was never going to happen.

Lane, on the other hand, did not find Tori's overstuffed mouth cute at all. He visibly cringed at the sight, took an involuntary step back, and waited for her to swallow.

"Do you think you could manage showing Pepper around?" He repeated, rubbing his temple as he felt the beginnings of a headache.

"Right now? Tori replied, wiping her face with a napkin.

"Yes, Tori, right now!" Lane finally snapped, silently daring her to protest as he glared at the Latina.

Jade raised her eyebrows at Lane's attitude, wondering what crawled up his ass and died, he wasn't usually so testy.

"Sure," Tori smiled thinly, annoyance written all over her face. "It's not like I have five different assignments that I need to do or anything."

"I can help you get caught up, Tori." Beck quickly chimed in, an all too-friendly smile on his face.

"Oh, can you? How are you going to do that, Urkel? You don't even share all of her classes with her." Jade pointed out icily, shooting her boyfriend a warning glare.

"Or, I won't. Sorry, Tori." The Canadian apologized, sending Tori a regretful look. Jade elbowed him harshly in the side, causing him to cough and sputter. The couple glared at each other, quietly going back and forth for a hot minute before rejoining the conversation.

"I'll happily show her around. There's this new Italian place up the street, I've been dying to try. You like Italian, don't you, Pepper?" Andre grinned, leaning across to table to leer at Pepper seductively. Tori, who was in the midst of downing her water bottle, choked on her drink as well as her laughter. Andre absentmindedly patted her back, all the while not taking his eyes off of his apparent newest conquest.

"I meant around the school, Andre." Lane said, pinching the bridge of his nose in exhausted frustration.

"Sure, we can do that too. Then I can show you that Italian place." Andre winked.

"Oh my god, Andre..." Tori groaned, putting her head on the table while she suffered from secondhand embarrassment.

Pepper laughed at the two of them, before offering a good-natured shrug.

"It's okay, I'm used to bad pickup lines." The new girl responded.

"Bad pickup lines? I guess that means I gotta try harder." Andre smirked, his ego not taking any bruises.

Jade rolled her eyes so hard they went back into her head, she'd rather hang from a noose than sit here and listen to André's terrible flirting.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Jade quickly snatched it out and read the text.

**J: In the lounge. Muévete.**

"Later, losers." Jade announced, swinging her legs out from under the table and standing up.

"Where are you going?" Tori asked, peering at the darker-haired girl curiously as she reached for her CapriMoon.

Jade was momentarily left speechless as she watched Tori wrap her lips around the straw, and suck the juice down in two seconds.

"Oh, uh, just this place wedged in between the corners of Nunya Avenue and Business Street." Jade remarked, sliding her phone into her pocket as she sent the Latina a devious smile.

"Ha, ha, you're so funny, Jade. Whatever, don't tell me. I'm sure you're just gonna go sit in a graveyard anyway, breathing in the fumes of the dead or something equally as creepy." Tori returned, rolling her eyes before going back to her meal.

"You know me so well." Jade sung in an overly cheery tone, exaggeratingly blowing a kiss to the Latina as she made her way back towards the school.

"Uh, babe, I think you're forgetting something." Beck called after her.

"Vega'll throw my lunch away for me." Jade called back, finally reaching the doors.

Smirking to herself when she heard an accosted "No, I most certainly will not!" before the heavy doors closed behind Jade with a loud thud.

She quickly headed right for the student's lounge, already having wasted too much time bantering with Tori.

When she entered, Jade was greeted with the sight of "J" spread out comfortably on the couch with his arms crossed over his chest.

He throws his arms up and glares at her from behind his Ray Band sunglasses when he hears her come in.

"Where the hell you been? Blowin' up my phone and shit all day, just to show up late. You better have the cash on you too." J shook his head as he rose to his feet.

Now, Jade could see him better.

He was of Mexican decent, a good four inches taller than her, dressed head to toe in designer clothes with diamonds around his wrist and neck. He had blonde highlights spread out through jet-black hair, that was expertly cut into a taper fade. A slight stubble on his upper lip and chin.

"You're J?" Jade asked skeptically, pulling the door shut and locking it behind her as she stepped further into the room.

"Nope, it's your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. And lemme guess, you supposed to be Sister Grimm?" He replied sarcastically, a small grin tugging at his lips as he tilted his head to the side to peer at her outfit curiously, "You dressed liked her."

Jade didn't laugh at his poor attempt at humor, choosing instead to cross her arms over her chest and glare impatiently.

J clicked his tongue at her in irritation before unzipping his bag and rifling through the contents. "Man, I was just tryna lighten the mood, Frown-Town. What kinda drugs you want? I ain't got time to sit here and stare at you."

He paused to let his eyes appraise her for a moment, wiggling his eyebrows and adding as an after thought, "Even if you are kinda nice to look at."

The pale girl's jaw clenched in response but she still didn't respond.

"I got percs, Xans, Addys, Acid, LSD tabs, X, and O." He continued, pulling each drug out of his bag as his lists them off and setting them on the table next to the couch.

"X and O?" Jade questioned, not familiar with what those were. She finally approached the table and dropped into the beanbag chair opposite the couch, to get a better look.

"Ecstasy and Oxy." J clarified.

"How much for Ecstasy?"

"$10 a pill."

"And for Adderall?"

"10's for $3, and 20's for $4."

Jade squinted her eyes in thought as she studied the drugs on the coffee table in front of her.

"Give me two X's, and four 20's of Adderall. You got any weed?" She responded, looking up at J curiously.

The Chicano teen guffawed before reaching back into his bag, and pulling out four large bags. Each one packed to the brim with different strains of weed.

"I got Banana OG, Dirty Girl, Purple Haze, and Blue Dream."

"Give me three grams of Purple Haze, and one gram each of the rest."

"Oh, que se joda tu madre con un cactus. That's a lot of drugs, you gonna be able to afford all that?" J remarked snidely, before sitting back on the couch and getting comfortable.

Jade glared scathingly back at him.

"How much?"

"Let's see, that's six grams and six pills. So, $44 for the pills and $120 for the weed-"

"What the fuck? Why is it so much for weed?! I used to get grams for $10."

"Hey, this ain't no Reggie, bruja! This that Grade A, medicinal type shit. So, $20 a g."

Jade rubbed her temples as she started to feel the beginnings of a headache settle in her brain.

"Fine." She finally relented after a few silent moments of massaging her headache away. Dug into her pocket for her wallet and then handed over the full amount.

J counted the money out carefully then pocketed it before getting to work on divvying up her drugs.

"You want the weed bagged separately by strain?"

"Sure."

Ten minutes later, she's trying to shove all her drugs in her jeans to hide them.

"You might wanna find somewhere else to hide that, shit's loud. Hit me up when you run out. Pleasure doing business with you, bruja." J grinned, sliding his bag over his shoulder and heading for the door.

He paused at the door, with his hand on the knob.

"I almost forgot. You and that Tori Vega girl, y'all are friends, right?" The Chicano boy asked, looking over his shoulder at Jade.

The pale girl narrowed her eyes at him, an uneasy feeling creeping up her spine.

"We hangout. What about it?" She demanded.

"She single?" J wondered.

"She's not really looking for anything right now." Jade responded through gritted teeth, wondering why the hell the universe couldn't ever give her a goddamn break.

"You seen the way she been dressin' lately? She either got a man or tryna get one." He tut-tutted, giving her doubtful look.

"You're not really her type." Jade rolled her eyes so hard it hurt.

"You don't know that. Give her my number, I promise I'll treat and eat your girl right. My name's Jaime by the way, so she knows what to save me under." He continued, unphased by Jade's clear agitation with the situation.

"Right..." Jade mumbled, shouldering past him to get out the door.

There was not a chance in Hell of her giving Tori his number.

* * *

"_DDT did a job on me, now I am a real sickie! Guess I'll have to break the news that I got no mind to lose! All the girls are in love with me, I'm a teenage lobotomy!_" Jade shouted along with The Ramones, as they blasted through the speakers of her car. A joint dangled between her lips as she felt around her cup holder for the lighter she left there this morning. Her fingers brushed up against the familiar steel plated lighter, she waisted no time in snatching it up and lighting her joint.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket for the eleventh time in a row, and she was honestly contemplating just ignoring it. It was probably Beck again. He'd been ringing and texting her since she left lunch, most likely wondering her whereabouts. But Jade wasn't in the fucking mood and just wanted to be left alone, so she clicked the radio off and fished her phone out of her pocket in annoyance.

"What the fuck do you want, Beck? Didn't the last ten times you went to voicemail give you a hint?" She hissed irritatedly.

"Well, hello to you too, cranky. You tried drinkin' some vodka and calmin' the fuck down lately?" Greeted a Boston accent, that definitely did not belong to Beck.

A smile appeared on Jade's face, her bad mood dissipating slightly as she recognised her best friend's voice.

"Faith, what's up? How's the wife?" The raven-haired girl returned, blowing smoke out through her lips as she chuckled softly in response to the other girl's greeting.

She and Faith met a couple years ago, when the woman had delivered drugs to Jade's older brother. Jade had given her relationship advice and Faith had given her a bit of weed in return. Faith had told her that she was pretty cool for a kid and to let her know if she ever needed anything.

All Jade ever needed from her was somebody to talk to, a companion who understood way more about how the world worked than she did. Faith So, when Faith moved to L.A. for good, Jade had been ecstatic.

"She ain't my wife yet, but I'm workin' on it. And B's good, she's got a job as a teacher now. We're throwin' a party to celebrate her gettin' the job, you should come. Might cheer ya up." Faith replied, and Jade could literally hear the grin in the other girl's voice at the mention of her girlfriend.

Jade didn't have to be told twice, she hadn't really been doing anything anyway. After she left school, she'd just been driving around for hours, blaring her music and smoking up her new purchases.

She made a U-Turn then headed in the direction of her home away from home.

"I'm already on my way."

Faith laughed heartily over the line in reply, "See you in a bit then, Jay-bird. Drive safe."

With that, Jade hung up and turned her music back to full volume, shouting out the lyrics and filling her lungs with smoke as she sped down the _405_ to Faith's.

* * *

It hadn't taken her long to get to the other girl's house in _Westwood_, Jade knew the way better than the back of her hand.

She'd barely tapped her knuckles against the front door, when it suddenly swung open and she was greeted by the drunk brunette who was grinning ear-to-ear with a spliff between her finger, marijuana clouds escaping from the open door behind her. She quickly pulled Jade into a friendly headlock, and ruffled her hair.

"Where've you been hiding, Jay-bird? We never see you anymore." Faith mumbled around her weed-cigarette, dragging the other girl inside. Once across the threshold, Jade pulled out of the brunette's hold with a sharp glare and smoothed out her hair.

"Faith, what did we say about personal space?!" Jade snapped, straightening out her clothes as well.

"That I'd give it to you when you learned how to kick my ass." Faith taunted, cocky smirk still in place as she handed her longtime friend a red solo cup. Jade gratefully took the drink and downed half of it, before snatching the brunette's spliff from Faith's lips and putting it to her own.

"We can always step outside if you want." The raven-haired girl returned, smirking to herself when Faith cried out for her stolen treasure.

"No, no fighting! You guys always act like idiots when she comes over— No offence, Jade. But my mom just sent us that new vase you're not going to break it!" Faith's girlfriend piped up, coming out of the kitchen to glare at the two of them.

Jade threw a look of feigned hurt at the blonde before rolling her eyes and handing Faith back her spliff.

"Relax, _Elizabeth_, I wouldn't hurt her too bad." The raven-haired girl responded, knowing the blonde hated being called by her government name.

"Anyways, what's been eating you, kid? You sounded grumpier than usual over the phone." Faith changed the subject quickly before a more serious argument broke out, flopping down on the couch next to the shadow-haired girl.

Jade wasted no time in telling Faith all about how horrible the past month had been for her. Twenty minutes and two cups of whiskey later, she was sure Faith was starting to regret ever asking her what was wrong in the first place.

The other girl's girlfriend had abandoned her shortly after Jade launched into her tirade, and Faith was left staring at the blonde forlornly from across the room.

"Sounds like that boy of yours ain't been doing his job." Faith remarked with a heavy sigh as she drug her hand down her face, the drugs and alcohol were most likely getting to her.

"He tries to, it's just that, I'm not ever in the mood for him." Jade said, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see who the fuck thought it was a good idea to touch her, only to discover a stranger's hand offering her a blunt. Which, she graciously took.

"Ah, what are you in the mood for then?" Faith asked, eyes sliding over to Jade so they made eye-contact while they spoke to each other.

"Northridge girls, lately. Occasionally, a pornstar from the Valley. There was this one girl from Sherwood I hooked up with the other day, but that's the last time I'll ever fucking do that. Those girls are insane! Accidentally call them the wrong name once, and they're trying to hit you over the head with a thousand dollar lamp from Morgan's." Jade mumbled, taking another drink from her cup.

"Hey, thought I told you to stay away from them girls! Nothing but loose-lipped hoes, and what am I always saying about hoes? Remind me again." Faith scolded, slapping the shadow-haired girl upside the back of her head.

"Ow, Jesus! 'You can't turn a hoe into a housewife.' But I'm not trying to, it's just sex, and they're only stand-ins for someone else..." Jade hissed, holding her stinging nape as she scowled at her best friend.

"Oh, god. You're still pining for that Vega-girl?! It's been like two years, Jade. Let it go." Faith groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Jade said nothing as she took a few frustrated hits off the blunt, then handed it to Faith. She exhaled the smoke from her lungs and watched the clouds as they rose higher and higher until they dissipated completely.

"I'm trying to, it's easier said than done." The darker-haired girl finally replied after a few moments of contemplative silence.

"What's got you so hung up on her? I've never seen you like this about Beck or... She Who Shall Not Be Named." Faith wondered, hitting the blunt only twice before passing it off to somebody else.

"She's nice to look at." Jade answered with a non-committal shrug. The truth was, she actually didn't know why she was so attracted to Tori. She just knew that she had to have the songstress, at least once, before they graduated. Never to see each other again.

Jade just had to wait for the right time to make her move. When that would be, she had no idea yet. Ideally, when Beck was out of town and none of their friends were around would be the perfect moment for Jade to move in for the kill. But with her luck, that wasn't happening any time soon because she was convinced that if there was a god, he must really fucking hate her.

"Right. Well, in the meantime, I got just the girl for you, Jay-bird. Sit tight, be right back." Faith announced proudly, bringing Jade out of her musings as she patted the darker-haired girl's knee sympathetically.

Faith got up after that, leaving Jade alone on the couch. Alone, with her thoughts once again.

Though, honestly, she wasn't really thinking about much. All the blunts and joints she'd smoked had given her cottonmouth like a bitch, and her tongue tasted like a damn grill. She was mostly just thinking about how much she really wanted to go to the kitchen and get some water.

"Jade, I'd like you to meet Tori K. She goes to Brentwood." Faith grinned, coming back to stand in front of Jade with an olive-skinned blonde.

Jade fixed her best friend with an unamused look before her eyes found Tori K's. The blonde had a pair of green eyes that Jade could just get lost in.

"You sing, Tori K?" The darker-haired girl asked dryly, clearing her throat so she could talk.

"Well, I am in the Honors Choir program." Tori K bit her lip with a smile.

'This could work.' Jade thought, a sly smirk appearing on her face as she devoured the other girl with her eyes.

"There's a spare room upstairs, if ya wanna go somewhere more quiet." Faith threw in, wide grin never leaving her features as she subtly shot Jade a wink.

With that, the brunette turned and went off in search of her girlfriend. Leaving Jade alone with this new, attractive, stranger.

"Shall we?" Tori K asked, her smirk matching Jade's as she held her hand out for the other girl to take. Jade took her hand and allowed herself to be lead upstairs into Faith's spare bedroom.

* * *

Beck knocked insistently on the door of the address Jade had told him about over the phone. He'd called her at least twenty times within the last couple hours and she'd only just answered on the last ring.

He wasn't trying to be annoying, he just knew his girlfriend hadn't been in the best mindset lately and she tended to act... extreme when she was feeling under pressure.

He'd immediately noticed the slur to her speech pattern when they spoke, and demanded to know where she was.

If she was drunk off her mind somewhere and anything happened her, he'd never be able to sleep at night.

Music from the supposed party was muffled by the door, but he could smell the marijuana as soon as he'd stepped out of his truck.

It put an uneasy feeling in his stomach, Jade hadn't gone to a party like this in years.

'She must be really feeling low.' He mused, jumping slightly as the door swung open suddenly.

A blonde woman with narrowed eyes stared at him expectantly.

"Can I help you?" She asked, not the least bit polite.

"Uh, I think my girlfriend is in there. I'm here to take her home." Beck replied, a charming smile aimed at the home owner.

"Whose your girlfriend?" The blonde asked, arms crossed over her chest as if she didn't believe him.

"Jade West?" He returned, not completely sure if Jade would approve of him giving out her full name.

The blonde relaxed immediately and a relieved smile encompassed her face.

"Oh, why didn't you just say so?! I thought you were a cop. Come in, Faith should know where she's at. I'm Buffy, by the way." The woman exclaimed, grabbing Beck's hand and pulling him inside.

Her relief didn't rub off on him because the deeper she pulled him into the house, the more uneasy he got.

* * *

**First of all, I'm sorry if this looks like shit. idk how to put more spacing between the paragraphs, and every time i try the fucking thing just erases it. I'm about to lose my goddamn mind. Secondly, part two will be up in a couple days I just gotta add somethings. One more thing, this just a lil tip, dont buy weed from som that sells it $20 a fucking G. They just ripping you off.**


	2. Contagious Chemistry Pt 2

**Contagious Chemistry Pt. 2**

**Monday February 6th, 2010**

_**A few moments before Beck arrived**_

_"So, why did you want to know if I could sing?" Tori K asked, they were sat on the bed in Faith spare bedroom._

_Jade's instinctive answer was to tell the other girl to "stop talking." then pull her in and kiss her._

_Jade's honest answer to that would've been that Tori could sing and hit notes that left her marveled after every performance. And if Tori could hit those notes while singing, Jade could only imagine what she sounded like when brought to the edge of bliss._

_The answer Jade gave was, "I just wanted to know if you'll sound good when I make you cum or not."_

_Tori K gave Jade a look that said she wanted to rip her clothes off right then and there. Who was Jade to object to that?_

_They were heavy duty making out when Jade got a phone call, she grunted her displeasure at the interruption but didn't pry her lips from the other girl's till she'd successfully fished her phone out of her pocket._

_"Mm-uuh?" Jade answered incoherently, finally pulling away from Tori K._

_"...Jade?" Beck's familiar voice responded, sounding confused and a bit amused despite having called her at least twenty times previously._

_"What?" She snapped in irritation, not in the mood for his shit in the slightest in that moment._

_"I was just wondering where you went, you disappeared after lunch. The gang and I are headed to the movies now, where are you at so I can come get you?" The long-haired boy responded casually, unphased by his girlfriend's attitude._

_Jade doesn't know why she does it, telling him her whereabouts would be a recipe for disaster and a monumentally stupid mistake. Maybe it's the weed and vodka, making her decisions impaired. Or maybe she just really wanted to get back to making out with Tori K._

_But she complies, and tells him she's at Faith's. Then hangs up immediately and eagerly reattaches her lips to Tori K's._

* * *

**_Present_**

Jade's brown flannel and jeans had been tossed somewhere across the room— she wasn't too worried about them at the moment, she'd find them later — one of Tori K's hands were knotted in her hair while the other squeezed Jade's breast, and the blonde's mouth was busy sucking a bruise onto her collar bone.

She kept flicking her tongue over the red marks she'd leave, the sensation leaving Jade dizzy with want.

Jade's thigh was wedged in between the other girl's legs as they ground furiously against each other in steady rhythm. The blonde kept making desperate little whimpers and if Jade kept her eyes closed, she could pretend that this was her Tori, and that turned her on even more.

"Fuuck, Tori!" Jade shouted, head thrown back as she moaned gutturally. She stopped thrusting, her hips and whole body shaking as her orgasm rocked through her.

She was so caught up in her pleasure that she hadn't even noticed the door open or that somebody was standing in the doorway.

But Tori K did.

The other girl practically shoved Jade away from her, in order to cover her own nudity.

"What the fuck?! Get out, you perv!" The blonde shrieked, glaring at the figure in the doorway.

Jade grunted as she fell back on the bed, blindly grabbing for cover as well. She found purchase of a rumpled sheet and shielded it against her body, turning around to rip a new asshole into whoever just walked in on her.

Only for the air to leave her lungs at the sight of her boyfriend standing in the doorway.

"Be...Beck? What-" Jade sputtered, eyes cutting guiltily toward her bed partner before returning to her frozen boyfriend.

"What're you doing here?" Jade murmured in confusion, the words just barely making it past her lips. The phone call from earlier completely forgotten.

Beck blinked slowly at the acknowledgment, his eyes moving between the two in mute shock. He closed his gaping mouth to clench his jaw and sneer at her.

He doesn't answer her as his eyes dropped to the floor, searching for her clothes that were mixed in a pile with Tori K's near the door. He roughly rifled through the pile until he found what he was looking for and tossed them at her.

Jade didn't even have time to put her hands up to catch them, resulting in her entire outfit smacking her dead in the face. She gave her boyfriend a peeved look after pulling the offending objects off her head.

"Get dressed, I'm taking you home. Now." He finally spoke, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the doorframe. His eyes never left Jade, glaring daggers the entire time she dressed herself.

Tori K looked between the two of them, her face turning even more sour as she realized Beck wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. She clutched the blanket more firmly against her chest.

"You're straight?" The blonde spat at Jade, who ignored her in favor of buttoning the last button on her flannel.

Beck didn't even give the raven-haired girl time to fully get out of bed before he grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her out of the room.

"Hey! Watch how you-"

"Don't. You don't get to say anything to me right now, Jade." Beck cut off her protest immediately, and Jade snapped her mouth shut and glared right back at him.

They passed Faith and Buffy on the way out, who both mouthed their apologies to Jade, looking completely guilt stricken.

Jade didn't blame them for this though, she knew it was all on her.

* * *

The car ride to Beck's RV was tense and silent, Beck didn't talk and he seemed like he didn't want Jade to speak either. So, all Jade could do was stare out the window and hope that they'd get back to his place quickly.

She hadn't planned on explaining herself or justifying her actions, she knew what she did was wrong. She just couldn't find it in herself to care at the moment. In fact, she was more upset about being interrupted from giving that girl the best orgasm of her life, than she was at the possibility that she might have hurt Beck's feelings.

Thirty-three minutes of suffocating awkwardness, Beck's truck pulled into the Oliver's driveway. Jade didn't even wait for him to fully park before she hopped out of the car and power walked to the RV, throwing open the door and going inside without even a glance back at her boyfriend.

She dropped onto the couch with her arms crossed over her chest and stared at the decorations on the walls, bracing herself for the argument that's to come.

Beck walked in a minute later, irritation and anger all over his face as he closed the door behind himself, leaning back against it while staring Jade down.

"How many times?" He spoke after a few more moments of tense silence.

She looked away from him to study the fish tank, just now noticing how dirty it was. She knew the others had pointed it out before, but she couldn't believe he let it get that dirty.

"You should clean your fish tank." Jade said, in lieu of answering his questions.

"Jade..." Beck sighed, sounding so completely broken.

"It's really dirty." She continued, her tone and face blank.

"For fuck's sake! Can you take this seriously, Jade?!" He yelled in frustration, throwing his arms up and springing off the door.

"This was the first and the last time, I swear." Jade lied, rolling her eyes at his theatrics.

"I don't believe that. This is the first time I caught you. God only knows how many people you've fucked. Have you at least been to the, um, the-" He paused, to motion to his crotch area and hoped that Jade got it.

"The pussy doctor?" Jade filled in for him dryly.

"Have you been checked for std's?" Beck amended, giving her a tired look.

"Jesus, what do you think I've been doing?! Picking up five dollar hookers off the streets?! It was just a couple girls at some parties, and this one pornstar." Jade huffed, clearly offended.

Beck gaped at her.

"You fucked a- How?! Why?! Oh my god... my dick's gonna fucking fall off." His head fell into his hands as he dropped onto the side of his bed in despair.

"I don't have any std's, you ass." Jade hissed, grabbing a couch pillow and throwing it at him. Beck sighed heavily as the pillow bounced off his fluffy hair and fell onto the floor.

It was quiet for a long moment, Beck with his head still in his hands silently contemplating his entire life, and Jade looking at everything else in the room but him.

"Are you gay?" Beck asked, voice muffled by his hands as he finally broke the silence and put his fears out in the open.

Jade had a feeling, he'd wanted to ask that of her ever since they first started dating a little over three years ago. She did leave her first girlfriend for him after all.

"No." Jade answered with an irritated eye roll.

"But... that girl, and you dated-"

"Bisexuality is a thing, Beckett."

"So, what then, Jade? What made you..."

"Can we just drop it?" Jade insisted, getting up and going over to the bed. She started to unbutton her shirt as if she was about to go to sleep. There was no way on Earth that she could tell Beck that she needed an outlit because she constantly fantasized about one of their closest friends.

"No, we fucking can't, Jade! You've been fucking other people behind my back for who knows how long!" He exclaimed, leaping off the bed and pacing around the small mobile home.

"Look, we're both tired and irritated. Let's go to sleep and we can talk about it in the morning." Jade placated, shrugging off the flannel and folding it before draping it over her shoulder.

"I can't sleep next to you without knowing why you've been cheating on me." Beck scoffed, glaring furiously at her.

"Then sleep on the couch." Jade shrugged.

Beck could only stare at her in disbelief, almost as if he didn't recognize her.

"What?" She spat.

"I want to sleep with someone else then." His head was held high as he'd said it, giving off the illusion of cool confidence. But she could still hear a bit of uncertainty in his voice.

Jade paused in popping the button on her jeans, contemplating for a moment about how she'd feel about that.

It should bother her that Beck was telling her that he wanted to fuck somebody other than her. If this were a year or two ago, she'd whirl on him and demand to know who the hell he wanted so badly. If this was how he reacted to catching her cheating for the first time, then that meant that he'd had someone else in mind already, didn't it?

But strangely, she found that she didn't care. It didn't bother her to picture Beck with somebody else. If anything, it brought relief.

Still, there was a very small part of her that wasn't quite ready to let Beck go. Beck, who put up with all her bullshit no matter how loud she yelled at him. Beck, who held her on nights when the thoughts in her head were so bad that she wanted to jump off a bridge. Beck, who understood her better than anyone. That kind of loyalty and love was rare, if she let it go, she might not ever get it back.

So, she played dumb.

"Well, your parents are right next door. I'm sure mommy and daddy won't mind if you crawl into bed with them." Jade responded.

"You know what I mean, Jade."

"You want to get even with me then, is that it? Think that's gonna make you feel better?" She snapped, this conversation was starting to get on her nerves and he'd ruined her high like an hour ago.

"It's only fair, you get to have your fun so I should get to have mine too." He insisted.

Tired, she was just tired of it all.

"If that's what you feel you need to do, I'll be here, sleeping off the fucking headache you just gave me." Jade mumbled, shimmying out of her jeans and tossing the outfit on the couch, where her bag was. Beck had let her get a few things out of her car before he'd ushered her into his.

Beck's face fell at her statement, he looked honestly crushed, with his shoulders sagging and his eyebrows pinched together in bewilderment. In this moment, Jade knew that he realized he's lost her.

He rearranged his features after a few heartbeats, and took several calming breaths before voicing his next words.

"I want to sleep with Tori."

Jade, who'd gone over to the drawer he'd cleared for her so long ago, and was in the process of pulling a pair of black sweats over her ass, stopped dead. Her head whipped around to glare at him so fast that her neck cracked audibly.

She sharply tugged the sweats on the rest of the way, then crossed the room faster than she's ever moved in her entire life. She got up threateningly close to Beck's face, her eyes squinted dangerously.

"What did you just fucking say?" She demanded, daring him to repeat it.

Beck swallowed thickly, blinking at her sudden closeness several times before he brought eyes up to meet hers.

"I want to fuck Tori." He clarified confidently.

"You're not fucking cheating on me with Tori Vega." Jade snarled, teeth bared and eyes blazing with unabashed fury.

"I practically just tore you off of some random girl, but you have a problem with me wanting to fuck Tori?!" Beck returned, gaping at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"The key words being 'random girl'. I'm not the one trying to fuck our friends, Beck!"

"You and Tori aren't friends, you hate each other. You berate her every chance you get, and she literally called you a troll-goblin at lunch today." Beck scoffed in incredulous, he couldn't believe the nerve of the girl in front of him.

His words hit Jade like a slap to the face, stinging her heart as such.

"You know what? Fuck whoever you want, you and I are done. But you go near Tori, and I'll fucking end you. Hear me?" Giving his chest a hard shove, she walked around the couch and gathered her things. She angrily shrugged on her shirt not even bothering to button it as she stormed past him.

She and Tori were friends, they were. They might not show it in a normal way, but they were friends goddamnit.

The metal door to the mobile home ricocheted against the siding with a loud bang as Jade slammed it open and marched toward Beck's truck.

She bent down to scoop up a couple heavy rocks, then chucked them at the windshield. She was pleasantly pleased as the glass exploded into millions of pieces upon impact.

Beck still had yet to come out, so she strolled over to the truck, kicked the headlights in, then pulled her scissors out of her bag and brutally stabbed each tire.

By this time, the truck's alarm was screaming for someone to come save it so she hightailed it out of there and began her long trek home.

'Can't fuck Tori if your truck's fucked, Beck.' Jade thought to herself with an immensely pleased smile.

* * *

She wasn't even halfway home, on the corner of _West Olive Avenue_ and _North Keystone Street_, when a _Range Rover_ with tinted windows pulled up slowly next to her.

Apprehension ticked at the edges of her mind as she eyed the vehicle warily. It had been late when she left Beck's, a little after midnight and she'd been walking for over an hour. Now, was the time when creeps came out.

The passenger side window rolled down, and revealed the mischievously grinning face of her best friend. Jade's whole body sagged with relief, as she realized Faith was not only in the vehicle but returning her car as well.

"Think you left something at my house." Faith teased, the locks popping on the doors to let the other girl in.

"How'd you know where I was?" Jade asked, sliding into the passenger seat and returning the older woman's smile.

"Stopped by Beck's, he said you guys had it out then you destroyed his car and took off. Figured you were heading home. Sorry, about letting him in the house by the way. B answered the door and when he told her your name, she just assumed it'd be okay. She didn't know you were with Tori." Faith explained.

Jade accepted this easily enough, after all she couldn't blame Buffy for Beck catching her cheating. Especially when Buffy didn't even know she was cheating in the first place.

* * *

Jade and Faith decided to just go back to Faith's for the night, Jade could take her truck home in the morning because she had to change her clothes for school anyway.

They parted ways at the doorway to the guest room with whispers of goodnight and a quick fist bump, then Jade slid into the room and got ready for bed.

As she pulled back the sheets, she changed her relationship status on The Slap to single then settled in.

Not even two minutes later, her phone buzzed about ten different times.

'The freak squad are probably wondering what happened.' Jade thought to herself, rolling her eyes as she checked her phone and saw that she'd been right. All of her friends— and some random hookups — had texted her, mostly asking her what happened while some just wanted to profess their undying love for her.

But Jade only cared about one person's text.

She scrolled through the notifications until she found what she was looking for, her heartbeat quickening at the sight.

**_Vega: Are you okay? I'm here if you need to talk or anything._**

**_Jade: I'm fine, can't say the same for Beck's truck though._**

**_Vega: Oh god, Jade. What happened?_**

**_Jade: We got in a fight, things were said, tires were slashed_**

**_Vega: ...Are you okay though? Seriously._**

**_Jade: Really, I'm fine, see you tomorrow. Thank you, Tori._**

**_Vega: Always, Jade_**

The raven-haired girl closed her phone with a soft sigh and pressed the device to her lips thoughtfully.

She didn't know how to feel at the moment. Tori had texted her, sure, but she could just be being a good friend. This is what Jade disliked greatly about liking girls, you never knew if they were flirting or just being friendly.

'_She likely texted Beck too, and is on the way over to his house right now. On a mission to mend the heart that the Big Bad Jade West broke._' Jade's brain whispered hatefully at her.

And Jade knew that if that were the case, she didn't stand a chance.

Beck was hot, way kinder than her, and had a much more placating personality. He and Tori would work extremely well together.

He was the better choice.

Tomorrow at school, Beck would ask Tori out and she'd say yes, and Jade would be left all alone. None of their friends, besides Cat, would voluntarily side with her after the breakup, especially not after finding out what she did.

The worst part would be that Tori would still want to try and be friends with Jade after it all, because Tori was good like that.

Jade wouldn't be able to do it though, she couldn't sit there and be happy for Tori and Beck, not when she thinks about the Latina every time she's with somebody else.

Jade hadn't realize she was crying until something wet dripped down her neck. She rubbed her eyes furiously in response, pressing her fists into her sockets until she saw stars.

She wanted to scream because she hated this, she hated that felt anything at all.

With a quiet growl, she threw back the covers and crossed the room, snatching up her bag and finding the 10mg pills that she'd bought from Jaime earlier.

She crushed up two of the pills then cut them in neat little lines on the nightstand. She put her nose to the medication and inhaled.

**Tuesday, Feb 7th, 2018**

After not sleeping a wink, Jade left Faith's at six in the morning, and snuck back into her parents house through the basement window.

She took her clunky boots off so that when she landed, it was silent. Jade quickly changed her clothes, then ran upstairs to wake Jake up so she could give him a ride to school.

After getting breakfast and dropping her brother off at elementary, Jade goes to school with plans to start seducing Tori, she wasn't about to let her douchebag ex-boyfriend take his shot at the girl she's been non-stop thinking about for the last couple years.

Jade walked into Hollywood Arts stone faced, warding off any potential gossipers that tried to approach her with a single glance.

Jade couldn't even find it in herself to care that she and Beck were over, so why did the losers at her school care?

She got to her locker, and was barely there for three seconds before she felt another's presence near her.

"Hey, Jade..." came the cautious greeting.

The raven-haired girl threw her head back with a groan and rolled her eyes so hard her pupils disappeared. She was definitely not in the mood for Veronica fuckin' Sanchez this early in the morning.

"Fuck off, Veronica." Jade responded, not missing the way the other girl swallowed thickly at the sting from her harsh words.

"I saw your status update on The Slap last night. So, you're single now?" The Latina continued, seemingly unphased.

Jade mumbled a few curses under her breath before slamming her locker door shut with such force that Veronica jumped back.

"What the fuck do you want? Get to the point and stop trying to make small talk." The raven haired girl demanded, patience having worn thin.

"So, my birthday is on Saturday and-"

"No, it isn't. Your birthday is in March." Jade rebuked, showing no remorse for interrupting Veronica.

"You remembered my birthday?" Veronica was astonished, and Jade really couldn't blame her. She'd spent every day since the eighth grade terrorising the other girl.

"Yeah, I remembered your stupid birthday. I seriously hope you don't expect me to get you anything." Jade said with another roll of her eyes.

"You don't have to get me anything, just come to my party on Saturday."

"And why would I do that?"

"Free drugs and alcohol? And the pleasure of spending the evening with moi."

Now, she was speaking Jade's language. Well, the first thing anyway. If it came down to it, Jade supposed she could just hide out in the Latina's family shed they'd had in the backyard. Nobody ever found her out there.

A brilliant idea popped into Jade's head a moment later.

This party could be the perfect opportunity to hook up with Tori. She knew she had to act fast, Beck posted a selfie of himself at the airport to Instasnap last night a couple hours after she left. Apparently, he was going to Canada for a couple weeks to heal his broken heart.

She'd rolled her eyes when she'd seen it, What a drama queen.

But it could prove to be a blessing in disguise. Beck leaving meant there was nothing in the way of her going after Tori for two whole weeks. Plenty of time for her to seduce the other girl before Beck even had a chance to.

"Can I bring a friend?" Jade asked, after contemplating the last couple minutes.

"Sure." Veronica chirped, a little too excitedly. Probably just happy that Jade's even considering going to her dumb party.

"I don't want to ask her myself, you should do it for me." The raven-haired girl suggested.

Annoyance flashed across Veronica's face for the briefest of moments before the Latina quickly covered it up.

"Fine, who?" Veronica grumbled.

"Tori Vega."

"Her?! But she's so-"

"So, what?" Jade asked narrowed eyes and a tone that warned the other girl to think about her next words very carefully.

"Perky?" Veronica finished, now unsure of herself.

"Hmph, don't remind me." Jade murmured softly, a thoughtful look in her eyes as they gazed off into space.

"So, I'll see you on Saturday then?" Veronica question just as the last bell for first hour rang. But still the girl lingered, eagerly awaiting Jade's answer.

"If Tori says yes, then possibly." Jade responded with a bored shrug, then turned on her heel and headed for Sikowitz's class without another word.

"O-Okay, see you later!" Veronica called from somewhere behind her. Jade continued on down the hall as if she heard nothing.

Once inside her first hour class, Jade's eyes immediately sought out Tori. She soon found her towards the back of the classroom, surrounded by the rest of their friends and Pepper. The Latina was sitting in between Andre and Robbie, with Cat sitting in front of her and Pepper sitting behind her. Of the musician and the ventriloquist, Jade supposed Robbie would be the easiest to force out of his seat.

It would probably raise some eyebrows, her making Robbie to move just so that she could sit next to Tori but she was way past caring at this point. She knew what she wanted and she was going to get it, she dared someone to say anything.

With her mind made up, Jade marched over to her friends.

"Crazy how the guy-"

"Move." Jade growled at Robbie, cutting him off and interrupting a really animated conversation about whatever movie they all saw last night.

Robbie stopped talking immediately, swallowing nervously as his eyes left Tori and Andre to look at Jade.

"Wh-What? But I'm sitting here." He squeaked, as if he hadn't heard her.

"Well, I want to sit there so move." Jade gritted out, her eyes flashing dangerously. Nowhere near in the mood for bullshit this early in the morning.

Robbie scrambled out of the chair, tripping over his own legs and falling into the aisle in the process. Jade merely stepped around and over him to stand in front of the now empty seat.

"You better not have pissed in it either." The raven-haired girl grumbled as she cautiously sat in the terrified boy's former seat.

Robbie picked himself up off the floor and gave a downtrodden look at the group, the rest of the seats around them were filled. Everybody else avoided eye-contact with him in favor of staring wide eyed and terrified at Jade.

"Where am I supposed to sit?" The boy asked timidly, pulling on his sleeve with anxiousness.

"I don't care." Jade emphasized, pulling her bag into her lap and busying herself with going through the contents of it to avoid the rest of the group's shocked stares.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." She barked dryly at the gang when their staring started to make her uncomfortable. They all jumped and quickly pretended to be distracted by something else in the room.

Finally, Jade pulled her notebook out of her bag. She had no intention of actually using it to take notes though.

Feeling eyes on her once again, Jade glanced to her right and was meet with Tori's curious gaze.

"Tori..." She sighed, annoyed but definitely softer than the tone she'd used with literally everyone else she encountered that morning.

"Sorry, sorry." Tori rushed out, eyes dropping down to her own notebook where she haphazardly scribbles some weird spiral doodle. It was actually kind of cool the longer Jade examined it. Jade also noticed the embarrassment reddening Tori's cheeks at being caught, and made a mental note of it.

Something twitches in Jade's stomach at the sight, it's not quite pain but she's not really sure what it is. It always happens when she's within touching distance of Tori, it's super annoying.

Mentally chastising herself, Jade realised she'd woke up this morning with plans to win Tori over. And she had accomplished so far was making Tori uncomfortable.

Why was it so easy to slip back into old ways?

Before Jade even had a chance to backtrack, Sikowitz bursted through the back door suddenly, dawned in full Roman Gladiator gear. He'd scared the chiz out of every sleepy teenager in the classroom.

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him! The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones." Sikowitz boasted loudly, his crazed rambling only bringing forth looks of perplexion from his students' faces.

"Sound familiar anyone?" He prompted, only to be met with an awkward silence from a fatigued audience.

Jade, of course, recognized the lines her delusional drama teacher was spitting. Julius Caesar was one of her favorite plays, next to Macbeth, obviously. And The Fall Of Rome? Easily her favorite era of history.

But it was too goddamn early to talk about history, she didn't even want to think about it. Instead, the raven-haired girl discreetly watched Tori.

The Latina glanced around the room to see if anyone would answer Sikowitz. And sighed lowly at seeing her classmates' lackluster response, then picked her head up to humor the old man.

"Et tu, Brute?" The songstress spoke with a small smile, knowing that wasn't the next line but confident that Sikowitz would get it.

Sikowitz beamed at Tori, shouting, "Yes!" and pointing at her with glee written all over his face.

Robbie, who'd found a seat next to some shruggers on their other side of the room, raised his hand.

"Why're we quoting last year's play? Didn't Trina ruin that horribly?" The ventriloquist chimed in, without waiting to be called on.

He was referring to the annual End Of The Year Play, where the Juniors and Seniors perform a classic play in the Blackbox for talent scouts. The Seniors would be offered a scholarship and a spot at a prestige college, while the Juniors would just be approached by a scout and told to consider a future with their college if their performances pleased.

Last Year's Juniors had Trina in their class, who had gotten the Juniors temporarily banned from performing in anything for the rest of the semester.

"Yeah... She did, didn't she? Quite frankly, I'm surprised the scouts want to come back after last year's performance. But they do, and that is why this year, Juniors, you'll be giving them the best performance yet." Sikowitz said, pausing to let the excitement die down before he continued.

"Not only are scouts coming back, but big name schools have sent them this year as well. Such as Juliard, Carnegie, Yale, DePaul, the Royal College of Art, the National School of Fine Arts, and Florence University." He finished, looking back to Robbie and raising an eyebrow at him. As if to say, 'Satisfied?'.

Upon hearing this, Jade became a little more attentive.

Ever since visiting the country as a child, Jade fell in love with the sights and sounds of Italy. The city of Florence, always being her first pick for a vacation spot in the Spring and Summer with her family. It had the most breathtaking views.

Jade often sat out on the rooftop of the Glance on quiet summer nights, taking in the beauty with a mimosa and a joint. She always dreaded having to leave and return to life back in California.

Excited murmurs broke out all around her, bringing Jade back into the room. Tori turned to Andre to eagerly prattle about hoping Juliard's scout noticed her.

That feeling from earlier came back to hit Jade at full force, this time attacking her in both the chest and stomach.

Why hadn't Tori turned to talk to her?

"Yes, yes, it's all very exciting. Now, can anybody besides Tori tell me who Mark Antony is?" Sikowitz spoke, regaining his pupils' attention.

And again, he's only gets dead silence in return.

"Seriously, you guys? We went over this just last year." The drama teacher released a long suffering sigh, then bounded up to the white board in the front of the classroom.

"Actually he went over this last year, with the Juniors and Seniors, not us." Jade heard Andre whisper to Tori, making the brunette giggle softly under her breath.

Jade only rolled her eyes and tried to tune them out.

"Let me take you back to Ancient Rome, then. Since nobody paid attention last year, to tell Antony's story we must first tell Caesar's. The year is 48BC, Caesar and his legion are waiting on the Pharsalian plain for Gnaeus Pompeius to send in his infantry..." Sikowitz began, launching into an elaborate history lesson on the Battle Of Pharsalus.

Jade was able to listen for maybe half a minute before tuning out, and letting her eyes wander around the room.

The rest of her classmates seemed to have no trouble following along with Sikowitz's words, all of them deligently taking notes in respective silence.

But Jade's so bored, she just wanted to step out and go to the roof for her morning smoke. Her eyes slide over to Tori once again, wondering if she'd come with her if she asked. Experimentally, she pulled her phone out and sent Tori a text.

Jade: This is boring. Wanna come to the roof with me?

She heard Tori's phone buzz in the other girl's pocket but she ignored it, in favor of focusing on the lesson.

Jade sighed obnoxiously loud, purposely being disruptive in order to get Tori's attention. When that didn't work, she spread her legs out more than she needed to, bumping her knee against Tori's and bouncing it slightly.

Tori's pencil stopped moving as she casted a sidelong glance at Jade, raising her eyebrows at her in slight irritation.

"Check your phone." Jade whispered, flashing the Latina a mischievous smirk.

Tori rolled her eyes then looked up to make sure Sikowitz wasn't paying attention to her. After realizing he wasn't, she reached into her pocket and retrieved her phone. She read the text then glanced over at Jade again, slightly apprehensive but also curious.

Tori's eyes dropped back down to the screen, and her fingers flew across it for a couple seconds then Jade's phone lit up with her response.

Vega: Are you going to push me off of it?

Jade chuckled softly to herself before typing her own reply. They texted back and forth for a few moments, occasionally giggling quietly with each other.

Eventually, Sikowitz got fed up with them distracting the other students from the lesson as well as themselves and called them out on it.

"Jade! Tori! Since your conversation is so much more interesting than my lesson, why don't you come up here and tell the rest of us all about it?" The acting teacher drawled, sitting down cross-legged on the steps of the stage.

"I'll read it out loud but I'm not walking all the way up there." Jade replied, rolling her eyes as if this were a mild inconvenience while Tori looked like she wanted to die beside her.

"I said 'This is boring. Wanna come to the roof with me?' and Tori said-"

"Are you going to push me off of it?" Tori interrupted, looking up at the ceiling to avoid the stunned stares. Jade's probably the most shocked though, she thought she was going to have to read their whole conversation by herself because of how embarrassed the other girl looked.

"...So, I replied with 'No, you coming or not?'" Jade continued, glaring at Andre once she noticed the weird looks he kept throwing her and Tori.

"And I said 'Sure, how are we going to sneak out?'" Tori mumbled, sinking lower into her seat as if that would help hide her from all the eyes in the room.

"Then, I was like 'You could pretend to have really bad period cramps and I could volunteer to take you to the nurse?'" Jade read the last text dryly, bringing her eyes up to meet Sikowitz's and daring him to take action.

If he kicked them out, that wouldn't bother Jade at all, seeing as that was what she wanted all along.

"I see... That was indeed an entertaining conversation." The drama teacher remarked, hand combing through his beard as he smirked at Jade.

"Yep..." Jade said in response, eyeing the middle aged man warily. The look he was giving her was just weird, even for Sikowitz.

They stand there for a few moments, Sikowitz in the front of the class and Jade in back, just staring at each other. Each of them waiting for the other to speak.

"Well? Aren't you going to take her to the nurse?" Sikowitz prompted, lifting an eyebrow at his pupil.

Jade blinked, more perplexed than the older man, before a sly smile spread across her face to match her teacher's.

"Let's go, Tori," The raven haired girl commanded, reaching beside her to grab the Latina's wrist and pull her toward the back door.

"Come back tomorrow ready to actually learn something!" Sikowitz called after them before the door shut.

The two exchange twin looks of incredulous before bursting into laughter. Neither being able to believe they just got away with straight up walking out of class, not only that, but Sikowitz practically told them to.

They're halfway to Jade's locker before she realizes that she's still holding Tori's wrist, a soft smile pulls at her lips and she doesn't let go of the other girl until Jade has to put her combination in.

"You smoke?" Jade asked, clearing her throat and trying to appear casual.

"Ew, no." Tori protested, her face scrunching up in disgust as she peered at Jade in horror.

"Not crack, Vega. Mary Jane, the good kush, that dank stank." Jade clarified with a roll of her eyes, pulling out a pack of Pink Lemonade 4K's as well as the gram of Blue Dream she'd bought yesterday. She held her goods up for the Latina to see.

"Oh, well in that case, yeah. Why didn't you just say it was weed? I thought you were talking about cigarettes." Tori countered, relief pouring over her features at the sight of the clear baggie with the greenest weed she'd ever seen in it.

" ...Do I smell like I smoke cigarettes?" Jade shot back, unable to restrain herself.

"Sorry, jeez." Tori quickly apologized, putting her hands up in surrender.

Jade gave her companion a dry look before she slammed her locker closed and strode towards the staircase near the school's entrance. She climbed the stairs and navigated through the halls, leading the way to the roof with Tori following right behind her.

The raven-haired girl plopped down on the edging of the roof saddle-style, and began the process of rolling up the blunt, Tori joined her after taking in a part of the school she's never seen before.

"I know you said you were okay last night but, I honestly just thought it was a front. You're not sobbing your eyes out and begging me to help you and Beck get back together, using weird kite metaphors. So, I guess I was wrong. I'm proud of you, Jade." The Latina remarked, watching Jade's lips and tongue movements as she wet the stick after gutting it.

"Well, it was my fault this time so, don't throw a parade or anything." Jade shrugged her shoulders with a frown, pinching the ground up green and spreading it evenly throughout the blunt. She hadn't thought they'd be talking about her breakup, when Jade originally planned on bringing Tori up here.

Tori's eyebrows reached her hairline and her eyes widened as she stared at the other girl as if she were a stranger.

"Your fault?" She echoed in disbelief.

"...Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Sorry, it's just... Don't maim me for saying this but, you don't admit when you're wrong. Like, ever."

And Jade couldn't even be mad about that, it was true. Which is why she chuckled while she finished the blunt.

"So, how was it your fault?" Tori asked softly after Jade's quiet laughter died down, her brown eyes shining beautifully with curiously in the early morning sun.

Jade sighed deeply, bringing her masterpiece up to her lips and lighting it. She didn't answer Tori for awhile, her gaze falling on the school's football and track teams out on the field below them. It was a little early for them to be practicing, especially since it was the beginning of February and neither team had an event they had to get ready for until the next school year.

"I cheated on him." Jade answered, after leaving the songstress hanging for longer than she'd intended to.

Tori went deathly quiet as Jade slid her eyes shut, fearing those words would be the nail in her coffin.

"Why? Did you love whoever you cheated on him with?" Tori asked after a long moment, her brows furrowed and looking a little annoyed.

"No, I just... it's complicated, Tori." Jade sighed, running her hand through her hair anxiously.

"So, help me understand stand it, Jade." Tori returned, making her voice deeper to mock Jade's raspy tone.

Jade rolled her eyes but the corners of her lips threatened to twitch into a smile at the obnoxiously, adorable, way Tori was trying to get information out of her.

"It was just some random girl at my friend's party. It didn't mean anything." Jade conceded.

Tori's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Girl?! Wait a minute, you like girls? Since when?!" Tori shrieked, staring at Jade wide eyed and bewildered.

"Uh, I don't know? Since I was like five... It's not a problem, is it?" Jade squinted at Tori while her heartbeat frantically in her chest. She hoped to god Tori didn't think she was disgusting, because she'd really hate to have punch that beautiful face of hers in for intolerance.

"Huh? No, nooo! That's great! Really, good for you." Tori quickly backtracked, placing her hand on Jade's shoulder to try and reassure her that she meant no ill-will.

"Why are you being so weird?"

"Sorry, I'm not trying to be..."

They sat in silence for a bit, passing the blunt back and forth while occasionally trying not to choke on smoke.

"So, this girl-"

Jade groaned loudly, cutting Tori off from her questioning and receiving a heated look in return.

"You don't have feelings for her?" Tori continued, regardless of the other girl's impoliteness.

"No." Jade mumbled, handing the blunt back to Tori after blowing out the steam.

"So, why did you cheat on Beck with her then?"

Jade shrugged, "Wanted to fuck, wasn't in the mood for Beck, and she was just convenient, I guess."

"She was convenient? Oh my god, Jade. You're worse than Andre! I mean I could understand if you were in love with the girl, maybe even sympathize with you. But you threw away three years worth of a relationship just for what? A quick screw? Why would you do that to Beck? Was she even worth it?" Tori ranted incredulously.

Jade's eyebrows rose to her hairline, jealousy and anger shot through her veins.

"You said you wanted to understand, so I'm explaining. Why do you even care, huh? Bored of your non-existent love life so you o lecture me about mine?" The raven-haired girl snapped harshly.

Tori's lips parted slightly in stunned shock, like she couldn't believe Jade would sink that low. She shook her head sadly, knowing Jade was just lashing out because it was a sensitive topic that she didn't want to talk about.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep. I'm just trying to make sense of it." The Latina backtracked softly.

"Nothing to make sense of, I can just be really impulsive sometimes." Jade dismissed.

Thankfully, Tori let it go and they fell into companionable silence, finishing off the rest of the blunt and laying on the floor with their heads tucked together comfortably, staring at the sky.

The bell rang but they both remained still on the floor of the roof.

"I don't want to move." Jade whispered, eyes half-lidded and her body feeling heavy.

"Me either." Tori responded, listening to the kids on the track and football team practice their drills.

So, they lay there for awhile, relishing in their high and each other's company. Their hands that lay flat on the floor of the rooftop overlap, and they cautiously intertwine their fingers, eventually holding hands.

"Tori?" Jade called gently, hoping the other girl hadn't fallen asleep.

"Yeah?"

"We're friends, right?"

Jesus, Jade feels like she's six.

"Are we?" Tori asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Jade's heart started to beat faster in her chest as fear gripped her heart.

"I mean... I think we are." Jade mumbled, suddenly very insecure.

Tori turned her head to look at her with a doubtful expression.

"Friends don't constantly insult each other, Jade." The Latina reminded her.

"I've heard you and Andre call each other-"

"Friends don't insult each other and genuinely mean it." Tori amended, cutting off Jade's protest sharply.

"Well, I don't..." Jade trailed off as Tori gave her a look that told her not to even try to lie to her.

"Okay, I don't mean it most of the time. You can be really annoying sometimes though."

"If you want to be friends, this is not a very good way to start."

"So, what I'm getting here is that we aren't friends?" Jade was disappointed and it showed on her face.

Tori sighed heavily then turned on her side to look at Jade fully on, folding her arm underneath her head to use as a pillow, Jade copying her position. They were facing each other and inches apart, Jade's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

"I didn't think we were friends because you never gave me a reason to." Tori whispered.

"You're the only person I come to when I have a problem." Jade murmured with a shake of her head.

"A soundboard for pain isn't friendship." Tori reasoned.

"I... I can't be vulnerable with anybody else, that means something to me." Jade breathed, looking deep into the other girl's eyes and hoping she believed her.

She might not ever say it, but Tori's friendship meant the world to her. Nobody had ever tried as hard as she did to get Jade to like them.

Tori gave her a soft smile, and she looked so beautiful in that moment Jade really wanted to kiss her, she even started to lean in a little.

Tori glanced down at her lips, and Jade swore the other girl was leaning in too.

Until the Latina cleared her throat sharply and scooted back a little bit. Tori sat up abruptly and looked back at her with a grin.

"Okay, I guess we're friends then." She conceded.

Jade blinked then met her eyes with a wide smile, though a part of her didn't actually want to be friends, maybe something more.

But she locked that part of her in a cage and melted the key, Tori wasn't ready for that yet and neither was she.

"What made you ask anyway?" Tori wondered curiously.

"Oh, it was just something somebody said to me." Jade hummed, already over it now that Tori has given her the validation she craved.

Tori frowned, her eyebrows drawn together angrily, "Who? What did they say?"

"Relax, princess. I set them straight, won't be seeing them for awhile." Jade grinned at the other girl's protectiveness.

"Oh my god, did you kill someone because they said we weren't friends?" Tori gasped, staring at the other girl in slight horror.

"No, but I may have run them out of town for a little bit."

"You are a menace."

"You expect anything less?" Jade responded with a devious grin and a wink before hopping to her feet and offering Tori an outstretched hand. Tori graciously took it, and Jade effortlessly pulled her to her feet. Tori's hands went to Jade's biceps to catch herself while Jade's fall down to Tori's waist to steady her.

Jade's eyes fell to Tori's lips again, watching as Tori pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth and bit it as she fought the urge to lean in again.

Jade exhaled sharply through her nose in mild frustration as Tori cleared her throat and pulled back.

"You wanna go to the mall?" Tori asked with a lopsided grin, sounding a bit breathless. And while Jade didn't want to get her hopes up, she still did.

* * *

It hadn't taken them but two minutes to get the mall, with their school being so close to it.

They were currently stood in a jewelry store, staring at a fourteen karat bracelet that Tori had admired in passing.

Jade had seen her looking at it, so she insisted they go inside and look around.

"Can she try it on?" Jade asked the salesclerk, completely captivated by Tori's awed expression as she stared at the sparkling diamonds. Her tone told the man that he didn't really have a choice in the matter, so he opened the display case and carefully held the bracelet out for Tori to take.

Tori tried it on, a radiant smile encompassing her face while the gemstones sparkles against the light on her wrist.

Jade frowned when Tori started to take it off after a few moments.

"What're you doing? It looks great on you, you should get it." Jade protested.

"It's $3,000, Jade. I can't afford that." Tori responded perfectly rational.

"Then I'll get it for you." Jade insisted with a dismissive shrug, reaching over to take the bracelet, only for Tori to move it out of her grasp.

"I can't let you spend that much money on me. Are you insane?!"

"Yes, you can and you will. Friends buy each other things all the time. Besides, you go to a snobby rich kid school, it's time you started accessorizing like it."

"If this is you trying to make up for the last two years of torture and insults, you're already forgiven. You don't need to buy me anything."

"This is me trying to be a good friend. Let me buy you the damn bracelet, Vega."

Tori made meaningful eye contact with Jade while she put the bracelet back in the hands of the clerk, who was glancing back and forth between the two of them like he'd wanted them to just get out.

"No, Jade. Now, you come on," Tori grabbed the other girl's hand and lead her out of the jeweler's.

"Let's get some food."

* * *

They went to the _Groovy Smoothie_ in the food court, got tacos and strawberry smoothies, that Jade paid for because she insisted that let her pay for something.

When it was three o'clock and school was over, Jade took Tori home and the other girl thanked her for the fun day, saying that she really needed something to lift her spirits.

And Jade responded with she liked it when Tori was happy, it didn't make her sick as it used to. But truth be told, it only ever made her sick when she wasn't the one causing Tori's happiness.

Tori smiled at her dazzlingly in response, and Jade felt like she was looking at the sun. A star so bright and beautiful that you had to look away quickly before it blinded you.

She wasn't going to tell Tori that though, that was gay.

Unexpectedly, Tori leaned over and pulled Jade into a tight hug.

"Bye, Jade." She whispered in her ear, sending shivers down Jade's spine.

After Tori pulled back and went inside, Jade went back to that store and bought Tori the bracelet and a set of matching earrings for good measure

The girl was as bright as the sun, and she'd fucking shine like it.


	3. Jealous Minds Think Alike Pt 1

**Jealous Minds Think Alike[prt. 1]**

**Tuesday, February 7th, 2010**

Tori laid awake, staring up at her beige-colored ceiling at one-thirty in the morning. _Junior_ _Doctor_ was playing in her earbuds while she contemplated the day's events.

She wished she could just reflect on the exciting movie she and her friends had seen a couple hours ago, but there was simply too much already on her mind for her to focus on such trivial things.

Like two of her friends that were absent during the movies tonight; Beck and Jade. The couple seemed to be on their last legs recently, and Tori was worried. If they broke up, then everybody would have to choose sides and Tori feared that Jade would be left all alone.

Beck and Jade had their arguments every once and awhile but they always made up and were all over each other shortly afterwards. Lately though, they both appeared to be more miserable and tired than anything. Beck kept throwing Tori these sullen looks during class, that she assumed were his way of asking her to fix things. Jade just looked listless all the time. Whenever anybody would try to get her attention they only recieved a stiff glare or a halfhearted grumble in return.

Tori kind of knew what was bothering Jade though. Well, she could take a guess.

The abrasive girl had shown up on her doorstep on New Year's Eve with tears streaming down her face. She hadn't even said anything at first, just threw her arms around Tori and buried her head in the Latina's neck. Tori could do nothing but hold her through the night, whispering words of comfort and reassurance as she pulled her fingers through Jade's hair. When Jade finally calmed down, she told her what happened. James West had kicked his eldest son out, after discovering that Jude was a "pill popping drug dealer turned klepto that tried turning the West Residence into a trap house."

Tori actually understood why Mr. West kicked the rebellious teen out but she hadn't expressed that to Jade, only offered comfort in the form of cuddling and fresh-brewed coffee. Jade and Jude weren't extremely close, but they used to be when they were younger. He was her brother, after all, they grew up together.

When Tori woke up on New Year's Day, Jade was gone. No thank you note or text explaining why she left, the other girl was just gone. And even worse, when she got to school she'd waited for Jade by her locker to see how she was holding up. But Jade vehemently denied being anywhere near Tori's "talentless house and the saps that lived there."

It had been a great way to start off her birthday...

Not.

Things between the two of them hadn't been the same since, with Tori resolving to just ignore Jade after the other girl's dig resulted in the two of them having a screaming match with each other in the middle of the hallway on her birthday.

Tori's resolution for the new year didn't hold up for very long however, as it was actually extremely hard to ignore somebody when you had a crush on them and they were a huge part of your friend group.

The Latina simply just gave Jade the cold shoulder or a bit of attitude regularly.

She eventually decided that she couldn't just keep sitting around praying that Beck and Jade would break up, and that Jade would magically confess her unwavering love for the Latina. Then the ever-present guilt that came with those feelings. Besides, her family would never approve of them being together, she and Jade would have to fly completely under the radar if the other girl ever returned her feelings.

Speaking of Jade, Tori hoped she wouldn't hold their spat at lunch against her, Tori hadn't gotten any sleep the night before and as a result her mood had been sour all day. The Latina now felt that she may have went too far with her name calling and hurt Jade's feelings.

Tori recalled the regret she felt in her heart as she watched Jade avert her eyes into her phone whenever they'd lock with each other's.

Tori's mother, Holly Vega, was largely to blame for her daughter's bad attitude as well.

Tori hadn't been the biggest fan of her mother's lately, last night being the third night in a row that Tori had to eat dinner with her abuelita alone. She knew her father had to work, but suspected that her mother was most likely off somewhere with Gary. Tori swore that man was a snake, there was just something icky about him. And whatever was going on between him and her mother couldn't be platonic. Not with how often they texted each other.

Suddenly, Tori's phoned buzzed, interupting her musings. She opened it and immediately sat up straight as her eyes scanned the notifactions displayed across her screen.

The Slap: Jade West changed her relationship status to single

The Slap: Beck Oliver changed his relationship status to single

Her mouth fell open as she read the two alerts over and over again in disbelief.

"No way..." The Latina mumbled to herself, momentarily wondering if she had inadvertently caused this by praying for it. Her heart stopped and she quickly murmured a prayer to atone.

And while Tori wanted Beck and Jade to be happy together, a small part of her found a bit of joy at the news of their breakup. She was only human after all, and had been heavily crushing on the raven-haired girl for nearly two and half years.

She sent a text to each of them, checking in and letting them both know that she was there for them if they needed her.

Beck responded almost immediately.

Becky With The Good Hair: If you could find a way to come to the RV, that'd be great. Really need to see you tonight

Tori blinked at the text, unsure how to respond to that. Why did he need to see her? Beck was her friend, yes, but they weren't "Here, cry on my shoulder." friends. Jade also wouldn't be too happy if she found out Tori went to go comfort her ex-boyfriend. The abrasive girl ex-seemed to be under the impression that Tori was in love with Beck and determined to steal him from her. Jade made sure to express her jealousy on the daily, very loudly.

So, it wouldn't exactly be a good look for her to go comfort Beck after his and Jade's breakup.

Tori's about to text him if it would be okay if they talk at school tomorrow, knowing he'll be more forthcoming with the details on what happened between him and Jade. But just as she's about to hit send, she gets another text.

This time from Jade.

Wicked Witch: I'm fine, can't say the same for Beck's truck though.

Tori: Oh, god. Jade, what happened?

Wicked Witch: We got into a fight, things were said, tires were slashed

Tori: ...Are you okay though? Seriously.

Wicked Witch: Really, I'm fine, see you tomorrow. Thanks, Tori.

Tori: Always, Jade.

Tori closed her phone then held it to her chest, dragging her bottom lip in between her teeth to try and conceal her smile.

It wasn't much, but Jade wasn't being a complete asshole so it was something. And Tori would take what she could get.

She'd laid there for maybe ten minutes, dozing off with butterflies incessantly flapping their wings in her stomach, when an unexpected tap at her balcony window scared the chiz out of her and made her throw her phone.

She flailed off of her bed and landed with a hard thud, sprawling out on the floor while whining in pain.

Not even five seconds after her fall, her phone rang with André's ringtone. She had to push herself to her feet and crawl over to the other side of her bed just to get it.

"Dré, do you have any idea how late it is? What could you possibly-"

"Open your window and let me in, you dork." Her best friend interrupted, barely holding back his laughter. Tori guessed he'd seen her fall.

Frowning, Tori hung up and went to her window, lifting the aperture so he could put his legs through and climb in.

"Sup, chica?" The dreadhead greeted, grinning at Tori like this was just a casual thing to do on a Tuesday night.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" Tori asked, brows furrowed and her arms crossed over her chest self-consciously. She was in her pjs and didn't have on a bra.

"You see The Slap yet?" He asked, instead of answering.

"Beck and Jade broke up... again." Tori stated the obvious, shrugging her shoulders impatiently.

"So, yeah, you saw it. Crazy, right? What you think it was over this time? More importantly, how long do you think it'll last?" He grinned impishly, plopping down and making himself right at home on her bed.

Tori shrugged again, annoyed, "Who knows? Everything sets Jade off. Did you really come over here at," she paused to check the time on her phone, "Two in morning just to talk about this? It couldn't have waited until we saw each other at school tomorrow?"

Andre looked at her, a bit of hurt reflecting on his features.

"What's wrong? Why're you being all snappy?" He asked with a frown.

Tori sighed heavily and thumped onto the bed beside him.

"Sorry, I just haven't been sleeping well the last couple nights." She explained, eyes falling down to her hands.

She can feel her best friend's concerned gaze on her and knew that she'll break down and confide in him if he asked. She was so tired of keeping everything bottled up.

So, she grabbed a hoodie off the back of desk chair and pulled it over herself to cover her modesty.

"Come on, let's go for a walk and I'll tell you about it because I can practically hear your thoughts." Tori suggested, putting her hands in her kangaroo pocket and nodding toward her door.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Andre commented, producing a joint from his jacket pocket with a grin.

* * *

Minutes later, they were both highly sated and walking in thoughtful silence down Lamar Road; the street Tori lived on, when André bumped her shoulder lightly with his own.

"You gonna tell me what's bothering you?" He asked, smiling at her patiently.

The Latina sighed heavily and looked off into the distance, studying a flickering street light to avoid her best friend's gaze.

"I think my mom's cheating on my dad." Tori finally said, rushing the words out in one quick breath.

"What? Nah, no way. She loves your dad!" Andrè replied immediately, jumping the Vega mother's defense.

"Then why is she always sneaking out? And she's always on her phone. That's kind of suspicious, Drè." Tori said with a nervous bite to her lip and a shake of her head.

"Okay, yeah, that sounds bad. But you never know, maybe she's got a surprise for y'all."

Tori rose an eyebrow at him as if to say, 'Really? That's the best you could come up with?'

"I know, it's a stretch... Maybe you should ask her what's going on."

"Oh, yeah, that's a great idea, Andre. "Hey, mom, I was just wondering if you were stepping out on dad. Can you pass the tostones?"

"Okay, sassy, what're you planning on doing then?"

Tori shrugged, feeling hopeless, "What can I do?"

"Tell your dad?" Andrè suggested casually, like that was the most obvious solution.

Tori vehemently shook her head, panic seizing her chest at just the thought, "I couldn't break his heart like that. She should be the one to tell him."

"If she is cheating." Andrè pointed out.

"Right..." Tori replied, unconvinced.

They resumed their silent stroll down the street for a bit, until Tori suddenly groaned then face palmed herself.

"Sorry, Drè, I didn't mean to be a bad friend. Did come over here to tell me something other than Beck and Jade breaking up?"

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot..." He mumbled, his voice getting a bit unsure.

He went quiet again so Tori nudged him with her shoulder much like he did to her earlier, "What did you want to tell me?" She prompted.

Andrè took a deep before he asked, "Okay, you remember last semester when I had that crush on Jade?"

The question caught Tori completely off guard, so much so that she almost trips over her feet but Andre's there to steady her.

"What? I mean, yeah, but why are you asking?" Tori squeaked, after recovering.

Andre shrugged, "I was thinking about asking her out now that she's single again."

Tori blinked, her heart slamming against her ribcage so fast she thought she feared she'd have a heart attack.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean they literally just broke up and Beck is your best-"

"Beck is going to Canada for like two weeks, so we can worry about him later." Andrè hurriedly interrupted.

Tori made a mental note to ask him how he knew that later, she hadn't seen anything about it on social media yet at all.

"What happened to not wanting to move in on a friend's girl?" Tori reminded, repeating the words the boy told her last semester when he told her had a crush on Jade. She so did not want to go through that nightmare again.

"They're broken up, she's not his anymore. I really like her, I thought go away if I met other girls and put myself out there, but it didn't. I don't think it's ever gonna go away until I do something about it. I can't just sit on the sidelines anymore. It's fuckin' painful, Tori." Andrè lamented.

Tori didn't respond, thinking to herself as they continue to walk down _Lamar_ _Road_.

'No, no, no, no. This couldn't be happening.' Tori thought in despair.

Not now, not when she'd finally summoned the courage to possibly act on her own feelings for Jade.

Andre nudged her eventually, "Where'd you go? I need advice, chica."

Tori took a deep breath, feeling like she hadn't properly done so since Andrè's confession.

"I like Jade." The Latina spoke up, trying to be brave.

Andre stopped dead in his tracks and gaped at Tori.

"What?! What do you mean you like Jade?! Since when!?" He exclaimed, clearly caught off guard.

Tori ducked her head sheepishly, "You remember when I tried so hard to help you get over your crush on her?"

"Then?! Why... Why didn't you say-"

"Longer."

"...How much longer?"

"Since you guys got banned from Karaoke Dokie that one time, and I sang for Cat and Jade."

"Dude... That was freshmen year."

Tori closed her eyes, "I know."

"You've been harboring feelings for her for two years..."

"I know."

"You never... Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because, Drè, it's not... it's not an easy thing to talk about. I didn't want to feel this way for her, I prayed it would go away so I could be normal for so long."

"Tori..." He said her name with so much anguish, sounding genuinely heartbroken for her. He pulled her into a tight hug and rested his chin on top of her head as he held her.

She clung to him tightly, thankful to finally tell someone.

"Are you... y'know?" Andrè trailed off, not sure how to ask.

"No!" Tori jumped back out of his arms with a horrified screech.

"But... Tori, you just said-"

"I know, but I'm not... whatever it is that you're thinking!"

Andrè merely moved closer and drew Tori into another hug, "Lesbian isn't a bad word, Tori. It's perfectly fine if you are, I won't love you any less."

Only for Tori to push out of his hold again, "I'm not a lesbian, you frickin' weirdo! I just like Jade, it's only her."

Andrè stared at her, a sympathetic expression on his face as he looked. It must've clicked that Tori wasn't going to change her stance on being "not gay", because his expression of pity soon turned into giddiness.

"Aww, someone's got a crush on their nemesis." He cooed with a grin, trying to pinch at Tori's cheeks. She glared and swatted his hands away.

"She's not my enemy, she never was. She just likes to bug me." Tori mumbled.

"So, it'd be cool if I make a move on her then? 'Cause, I mean, not to be an ass or anything but she kinda hates you."

Tori's brow furrowed and she frowned, "I...I don't know."

"Come on, Tori. Please? Are you honestly saying there's a possibility of you asking Jade out?"

Tori's shoulders slumped and her face fell even more, if Andre didn't think she had a chance, maybe she really didn't.

"I guess you're right." She conceded dejectedly.

Though, if she's being honest, Tori doesn't really think Jade's going to entertain him either. And also, if they did end up hooking up, Andrè was the smash and dash type. So, Tori figures it wouldn't last very long.

"You're the best, Tori!" Andre exclaimed excitedly, grabbing her in his arms and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

She laughed but her heart wasn't in it and her smile didn't reach her eyes.

They're walking back towards her house when suddenly a police siren chirped, causing them both to jump a foot in the air.

"VICTORIA SOLA VEGA!" The familiar voice of David Vega shouted through his cop speaker.

Tori winced as if she were in physical pain at the usage of her full name, especially in front of company. But Andrè wasn't in any condition to tease her, he looked three seconds away from a hysterical panic attack.

"What the hell are you doing out of the house this late, on a school night?! Who is that with you?! Is that a boy, it better not be a boy!" Her dad demanded.

"Run." Tori whispered to Andrè.

Her best friend wasted no time in bolting through a neighbor's yard and away to safety.

"Nothing, nobody! Love you!" Tori rushed out, smiling at her father innocently.

"Get in the house right now! Your abuelita better be well fed and in bed when I come in!" David warned.

Tori nodded vigorously, sprinting toward the house and up to her room, hoping to avoid getting a lecture about being out so late. She flopped onto the bed and buried her head into her pillow, wanting to scream but not willing to risk waking her abuela. Their rooms were right next to each other.

She heard the front door open and shut, as well as her dad putting his gun and keys on the table near the door.

"Tori, I know you're still up! Come down here!" He called to her.

Her life kept getting worse and worse.

Tori wondered if she could suffocate herself if she pressed her face into the cloth of her pillow hard enough.

"Victoria!" David yelled impatiently.

"Coming!" She called back, lamenting an aggravated, "Ay bendito..." under her breath as she flung herself off of her bed and dramatically stomped out of her room.

When she got downstairs, her father had a black tank top on in place of his uniform shirt and was getting some milk out of the fridge.

"Why were you out at three in the morning?" He asked calmly, nodding with his head for her to take a seat on one of the couches.

She sat on the one furthest from the door and put her hands in her lap.

"Andrè needed somebody to talk to." She answered with a shrug.

"So, that's who that was? He didn't have to run, I would've given him a ride home." David said, shaking his head as he took a seat next to his daughter.

"Cops scare him, dad. His parents were murdered by the police, you know?" She reminded him gently.

David nodded solemnly, bowing his head slightly to say a quick prayer for the deceased.

"So, is he okay then?" Her father asked, bringing them back on topic.

"Yeah, he just wanted dating advice." Tori replied with a roll of her eyes at the word "dating".

Jade and Andrè would never date, er, she hoped they wouldn't. Just the thought of it made her stomach turn.

David opened his mouth to add more to the conversation when lock to the front door turned, and in stepped Holly Vega.

"What are you doing out so late? Dios mio, does nobody in this house actual stay in the house when they're supposed to?!" The Vega father exclaimed.

Holly's eyes slid over to Tori with a raised eyebrow, silently asking what the man was on about. Tori glared back and crossed her arms over her chest, knowing damn well where her mother just came from.

The out of nowhere hostility from her daughter took Holly aback, a look of consternation on her face as she studied her.

David sighed heavily and set his glass of milk on the coffee table.

"Mi hija, go up to bed. We'll talk tomorrow." He commanded, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Tori's heart broke for him over and over again, she didn't understand why her mother would seek out another man's arms when the one she had was so great.

One day, her dad would learn what her mother had done and it would destroy him.

And with that knowledge, Tori cried herself to sleep.

* * *

**Wednesday,** **Feb** **8th** **2010**

Tori practically skipped into school that morning, bubbly thoughts of the day before at the forefront of her mind. Although she had been grounded for skipping school, it was worth it to have spent almost the entire day with Jade. They'd gone up to the roof of the school and talked, she'd found out that Jade cheated on Beck. She could barely believe it when Jade had told her.

Her reaction at first had been poor, she supposed. But the situation hit a little too close to home, resulting in her projecting some of the irritated feelings she felt towards her mom onto Jade. Though, she hadn't really understood why exactly Jade had cheated, she couldn't help but feel... hopeful?

Jade had cheated on Beck with a girl, that meant that Jade was into girls. And she'd been nice to Tori all day, even offered to buy her extremely expensive jewelry. To which, Tori vehemently turned down because there was no way she could let somebody spend that much money on her. No matter if they'd made her life a living hell for the past two years.

So, maybe Andrè had been wrong? Maybe Tori really did have a chance with Jade. She'd have to talk to him after class one-on-one about this whole "making a move on Jade" thing.

Tori hummed jovially to herself as she opened her locker, only to find a black matte gift bag with two velvet boxes inside with a note sitting on top of them. The Latina delicately reached into the bag and plucked the note up, giddily reading the perfect penmanship that was written on it.

'Consider it a late birthday present. These'll look better on you than sitting on display anyway. - JW'

Tori couldn't even hide her grin, it was huge.

She opened the box with the beautiful bracelet from yesterday and carefully clasped it around her wrist, staring in slight awe at the diamonds sparkling against her skin. In the second box, was a pair of elegant earrings that matched the bracelet. Jade quite literally must've spent a fortune on all of these, literally just to make up for the way she'd treated Tori over the years.

Tori has never been so touched and grateful in her entire life than in that moment.

She turned toward Jade's locker, intent on thanking her, only to have her heart jump to her throat at the sight of Andrè leaning against the lockers near Jade's. He seemed to just be talking to her, but from the bustle of noise from the other students around her, Tori couldn't hear what they were saying.

But Jade was smirking, so whatever they were talking about must've put her in a good mood.

Tori's shoulders drooped slightly, she turned around and started heading to Sikowitz's class, seeing Pepper already waiting for her by the vending machines.

They exchanged light greetings, and after Tori asked the other girl how her first couple days went.

"It was alright, the kids here are kind of assholes though." Pepper said with a half-hearted shrug as they started toward Sikowitz's class together.

Tori liked Pepper, she seemed very down to Earth and chill. Plus, she could finally have another girl in the group to have sleepovers and gossip with.

"Yeah, you get used to it. At least no one's poured iced coffee on your head yet." Tori replied with a light laugh.

"Did that happen to you? That's horrible." Pepper commented, eyes bulging out of her head in disbelief.

Tori shrugged with a soft smile, "It was awhile ago, Jade and I are-"

"Jade poured coffee on your head?!" Pepper exclaimed loudly, looking completely alarmed to Tori's utter confusion.

"Why does that surprise you? Have you met Jade? She's like the scariest person I've ever met." The Latina pointed out.

"At lunch on Monday, she was staring at you. Like, she didn't take her eyes off of you until she left. This entire time, I thought she was in love with you." Pepper mumbled, wholeheartedly dumbfounded.

Tori barked out a laugh that was somewhere between nervous and doubtful.

"Jade? In love with me? Yeah, right. I mean, we're on better terms now sure, but that girl is not in love with me. I called her a troll-goblin, that's probably why she was staring." Tori reasoned.

"Sure, but you guys skipped pretty much the whole day to spend time with each other yesterday."

"We're friends, we hangout."

"And do friends get each other expensive jewelry for no reason?" Pepper continued non-perturbed, her hand going to Tori's wrist with the bracelet in question and holding it up with annoyingly smug look.

"It was a late birthday gift. ...Are you stalking me?" Tori justified, pulling her wrist back and putting her hand in her pocket to hide the bracelet.

"I saw you put it and those earrings on at your locker, then you started walking toward Jade with this huge smile on your face-"

"Yeah, that seems like a totally normal, and not at all creepy, thing to say to someone." Tori deadpanned, staring at the other girl as if she had lost her mind.

"I like to people watch, it's not creepy. Shouldn't you be excited that she likes you back?"

Tori froze, no one but Andrè knew that she liked Jade.

"Okay, now, you're just talking crazy! I don't like Jade like that, I'm not gay. And I don't know what you think you're seeing, but just keep it to yourself, okay?" With that, Tori walked ahead of Pepper, now in a bad mood.

She couldn't even bring herself to feel embarrassed at the look of comical shock that had encompassed Pepper's face after her outburst.

Tori plopped down into a free seat in Sikowitz's class with a little more force than necessary, hurting her tush in the process. Cat and Robbie were already in the classroom, sitting in the front row together, giggling quietly and sharing candy. They seemed to pick up on Tori's angry vibes because they wisely chose not to acknowledge her as she sat behind them.

Pepper slinked into the classroom shortly after her, avoiding her glare and sitting in the row behind her.

Jade arrived a few minutes later, sliding into the seat behind Tori and smirking when she saw the jewelry she'd brought her yesterday on proud display. Her blue eyes were engulfed in red and she definitely smelled... like she wasn't sober, to put it lightly. Though the term, skunk definitely came to mind.

"I was right, they do look better on you." The raven-haired girl quipped, raising her brows in a way that showed she was clearly pleased with herself.

"I can't believe you went back and bought these. Jade, how am I ever going to pay you back?" Tori lamented.

"You don't have to, it's a gift, Vega."

"I don't know, it's a really expensive gift..."

Jade gave her a dull look then set her attention on Cat, who was sitting in the row in front of them.

"Hey, Cat, you got a mirror in your bag?" Jade called to her, easily earning the redhead's eye-contact.

"No, but I have candy!" Cat chirped excitedly, pulling out a bag of licorice and some skittles.

"Wow, that's really unhelpful. Thanks, Cat..." Jade snarked with a roll of her eyes.

"You're welcome! Have some licorice." She handed Jade a couple strawberry flavored strings, which the other girl begrudgingly took and gnawed on aggressively.

"I'll take some Skittles." Tori said with a shrug.

Cat happily dumped the skittles into Tori's hand but catches the other girl's wrist before she can fully pull away.

"Oh, shiny! Where'd you get it?" The redhead exclaimed, eyeing the bracelet with child-like wonder.

Tori sent a panicked glance at Jade, who merely raised a curious eyebrow in response.

Tori wasn't entirely sure if Jade wanted everyone to know that she had been the one to buy Tori her new accessories.

"Oh, I was just in the mall yesterday and-"

"I got it for her, the earrings too. Don't they look great on her, Cat? Tell her they look great on her." Jade suddenly interrupted, receiving four looks of equal surprise.

And Tori just knew that if she were to glance over at Pepper, the girl would be wearing a shit-eating, I-told-you-so, grin.

"Uhm... The diamonds look beautiful on you, Tori. But, Jade, don't you hate Tori? Why would you buy her jewelry?" Cat asked, her brow adorably furrowed in confusion.

"When have I ever said that?" Jade huffed with an aggravated roll of her eyes.

"Multiple times, on a daily basis. Nice bling, Tori." Andrè chimed in, catching the tail end of the conversation. He finally joined the group, sliding into the free seat next to Tori, and smelling exactly like Jade's weed.

But Tori didn't want to think about that.

"That's fourteen karat white gold, it's more than just nice!" Jade snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and slumping in her seat.

"Here's a mirror, Jade. That's so sweet of you to spend that much money on Tori, you must really care about her, huh?" Pepper chimes in from her seat beside Jade, pointedly making eye-contact with Tori as she said this.

Both Jade and Tori froze, and twin glares were aimed at Pepper.

"Just wanted to do something nice for a friend." Jade grumbled.

"Well, in that case, there's this sword that I've been-"

"No." Jade barked, cutting off Robbie immediately as she handed the mirror to Tori, who rolled her eyes in response but smiled as she took a look at her reflection.

Their friends' attention was taken by Sikowitz who climbed in through the window wearing a Roman gladiator costume, prattling on excitedly about how he and the history teacher got caught up in talking about how lovely Rome is.

But neither Tori nor Jade were paying attention.

The earrings sparkled against the light on Tori earlobes, she touched the side of her face in awe.

The diamonds did look gorgeous against her olive skin.

Jade leaned forward, resting her chin lightly on Tori's shoulder with a smug smile on her face and whispered, "They were worth every penny, so stop fussing and just enjoy your gift."

A shiver ran down Tori's spine and her hips twitched involuntarily from the sensation of Jade's voice caressing her ear.

Then Jade was looking at her softly, and for the first time that day, Tori was starting to think that maybe Pepper was right about Jade having a thing for her.

* * *

Later, when Tori was walking to class by herself, she'd had her nose stuck in her phone and wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

Someone had left their skateboard in the middle of the hallway, and when Tori, unaware of the potential safety hazard, took another step balance was ripped from her and she was sent hurling forward. The skateboard banged against some nearby lockers with a loud clatter. Tori couldn't even hear her own thoughts over how loud her heart was pounding in her chest, but distantly she swore she heard someone panically shout, "Oh my god, Veronica, watch out!"

Tori's body roughly collided with somebody else's, knocking the breath out of both of them. The other person responded immediately by not-too-kindly shoving Tori off of them and onto the hard floor.

Barks of laughter could be heard throughout the foyer, and it was all at Tori's expense.

The chestnut-haired girl's face flushed with embarrassment. Ducking her head, she began to quickly gather up her things she'd dropped. She was vividly thinking about fleeing the hallway and hiding out in the restrooms to avoid being harassed about this incident for the rest of the day.

"Hey," Veronica Sanchez snapped at her, glaring venomously, "Watch where you're going!"

Tori glanced up at her for a moment, blinking at the hostility in the other girl's tone. And the cliche, because really? Who even talked like that in real life?

It was just her luck too, to fall face first into Hollywood Arts' rising Next Top Model.

Seriously, the girl never shut up about being signed to M Model Management.

'So sorry about that,' Tori responded with a roll of her eyes, distracted as she scanned the floor for her missing phone, 'I, uh, didn't see the skateboard.'

Veronica stood in front of Tori with a hand on her hip and her lips pursed, gazing down at her with a bored expression. Her Saint Laurent clothes were a little rumpled, but the other girl was otherwise no worse for ware from the brief run-in.

The bell rung and Veronica's friends— as well as other straggling students— dispersed and went to class. A few only sticking around to see how things played out between two of the most popular girls at the school. Veronica remained where she was, a now sour look on her face.

"Aren't you Tori Vega?" The other Latina practically demanded.

"Uhm, yeah?" Tori replied warily, her eyebrows pinched together in confusion and slight curiosity.

"You doing anything this Saturday?" Veronica asked, her tone deadpan almost as if she weren't actually interested in whether or not Tori had plans for the weekend.

"Uh, no?" Tori responded, even more confused.

"I'm having a birthday party on Saturday, you should come. It's at 4081 West Roundup, in Beverly Hills. Seven o'clock, bring something, and don't be late." Veronica said, not even waiting for Tori's reply before she turned on her heel and went to class.

Tori was left staring after confused beyond all belief by what just transpired.

"Aw, man. I am sooo sorry, I didn't mean to leave my board out. Are you okay? You need anything?" A boy with spiky black hair, dawned in all leather, apologized profusely as he came up to Tori with the offending object in his hand.

He quickly bent down to help her gather the rest of her things, handing her phone back to her with a bashful smile.

"I, uh, I'm Fred by the way. Fred Burnstein." He introduced as they got to their feet, rearranging his skateboard so that he could hold his hand out for a shake.

"It's nice to meet you, Fred, I'm Tori Vega. Thanks for helping me with this." Tori thanked, smiling dazzlingly at him.

Fred blushed and stuttered out, "No-Not a problem. It's the least I could do after almost killing you with my board."

Tori laughed softly and nodded her head in agreement.

"I gotta go meet some friends, but I, uh, hope to see you around... Tori Vega." He started to back away, grinning at Tori as he went only fall full-body into a trashcan while trying to be smooth.

Tori giggled behind her hand then waved goodbye to him as she left for lunch.

* * *

"So, something super weird just happened to me." Tori said to her friends in lieu of greeting as she sat down at their usual lunch table.

"What?" Andrè asked, trying to balance a pencil between his upper lip and nose like a mustache. Tori wasn't sure why, that was just what she walked into when she got to the table.

"Veronica Sanchez just invited me to her birthday party on Saturday because I ran into her in the hallway. Literally." Tori elaborated, expecting everyone to share a laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

"Saturday? What? But I thought- Jade, isn't her birthday in March?" Robbie voiced, turning to Jade with bewildered expression. Only to squeak in fear when Jade responded with a wide-eyed glare that said she didn't want to talk about it.

"So, are you gonna go?" Pepper asked beside Tori.

"Uhm, I don't think so. I don't really know her, so it'd probably be awkward-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold on, pause. One of the most popular girls in school invited us to a party, and you don't want to go?" Andrè chimed in, pencil falling from his face as he stared at his best friend in disbelief.

"Well, technically I was the only one invited. She didn't say anything about you guys." Tori pointed out.

"I don't want to go either, Tori. One time, Jade and I went to one of Veronica's parties and we saw her with-"

"That's enough, Cat! Nobody needs to hear about your weird experiences." Jade quickly interrupted the redhead, glaring at her sternly like a mother would a stubborn child.

"You're going, dude. When was the last time you had some serious fun? C'mon with everything going on at home-"

"Andrè!" Tori hissed, wondering why he thought it was a good idea to bring that up.

"I'm just saying, a night out might be good for you." The dark-skinned boy replied, holding his hands up in surrender.

"You should go, it could be fun." Jade chimed in, finally adding her two sense into the conversation and capturing Tori's attention.

"See? Even Jade wants you to go. You're going, end of discussion." Andrè decided, stealing a grape off of Pepper's tray and popping it into his mouth with a grin.

"Wow, nothing like peer pressure to really get you in the partying mood." Robbie deadpanned.

"Shut up, Robbie." Andrè and Jade both stated, smirking at each other afterward.

* * *

**Saturday,** **February** **11th,** **2010**

Tori Vega and Veronica Sanchez made weirdly intense eye contact with each other from across the room as the Vega girl weaved her way in between the crowded foyer to the kitchen, Andrè and Pepper leading the way ahead of her.

"Is it weird that I think Veronica kinda hates me?" Tori called to Andrè over the loud teenagers that were belting out the lyrics to a popular RB song in the next room.

"Why would she invite you to this party if she hates you?" Andrè reasoned, shaking his head with a grin as he poured three shots of tequila for the group. And Tori supposed he had a point, but she was still confused by her entire interaction she'd shared with the other girl on Tuesday.

For one, Veronica didn't seem particularly interested in Tori's reaction to being invited or her answer. In fact, it almost seemed like the other Latina didn't even want Tori to come to her party in the first place. Which made Tori wonder why she even bothered to invite her at all. But Tori eventually just chalked it up to Veronica feeling bad for snapping at Tori, and let the matter rest.

Tori didn't mind however, the party was pretty fun so far even though they had just arrived there.

She picked up the shot Andrè poured for her, clinked glasses with the other two, and then downed it in one go. Hissing as the tequila burned her throat, Tori slammed her empty glass on the island counter triumphantly. She was the first one to finish.

This sparked a new sense of competition in the other two, and soon all three friends found themselves in the midst of a drinking contest.

Four shots of Hennessy later, Tori grunted in disappointment as Andrè was named champion after downing a womping eight shots.

He and Pepper had disappeared into the dining room a little bit ago, for a celebration dance.

Feeling pleasantly buzzed, Tori found herself dancing by her lonesome in the Sanchez's spacious dining room as well. She was surrounded by a bunch of other Hollywood Arts students, as well as people from around the area.

There were also a mixture of kids from Brentwood, Westwood, and Northridge attending the party. And Tori briefly wondered how the hell she knew so many people.

The song switched and Tori beamed excitedly when she recognized the tune that began to play next. Her hips moved sultrily along to the electronic beat of Blackout. An oldie but a goodie, the song was one of her favorites.

Abruptly, Tori felt someone's hands grabbing her hips and a body pressing into her back. The songstress paused, turning her head to glare at the idiot who decided to just put their hands on her body without asking first. But when she looked she realized it was only Jade, and suddenly she no longer had a problem with the unexpected advance. Tori relaxed against her then started her dance back up again, comfortable now that she knew it wasn't some creepy boy groping all over her.

Jade's movements were slow and her grip on the Latina's hips was too tight, it was like she was clinging onto Tori for dear life. But Tori knew her awkward behavior was only a side effect from whatever drug she'd taken before coming in.

Jade was a natural dancer when sober.

"Can you keep up the pace like you're dying for this?

And when you say

'I'm not okay,

I left my phone in the cab.

Now you can't get me.'

I'm only getting started,

I won't Blackout."

Tori reached her free arm behind herself to tangle her fingers in Jade's hair and bump their heads together gently. Their noses brushed for a moment, Jade softly nuzzling Tori's with her own before dropping her head into the crook of Tori's neck. Tori grinned as she felt a bunch of kisses being pressed softly against her skin.

"Where'd you learn to move like this?" Jade resurfaced to murmur in the other girl's ear.

"Signed up for belly-dancing last semester." Tori answered back, the hand that was tangled in Jade's hair sliding down to her hip where it rested on top of the other girl's. Her other hand held her drink, trying to be mindful not to spill it as they swayed together for a moment.

"It paid off." Jade hummed her approval into chestnut-colored hair. Tori beamed at the compliment, shivering slightly as she felt Jade part her hair behind her head and press a kiss to the nape of her neck. They were dancing way off beat but neither of them could bring themselves to care in that moment.

"Mind if I cut in, ladies?" Andrè greeted suddenly, with a smooth smile as he slid into the free space behind Jade.

Tori met his eyes over Jade's shoulder, her sunny smile now aimed at her best friend. Her grin slipped as she felt Andrè's arms snake around Jade's hips— she was still pressed up against Jade's front— and the boy pull Jade flush against him. Now feeling like a third wheel, Tori slid out of Jade's hold, and started swaying to the music by herself in front of the pair.

"Hey, Drè." Tori returned his greeting finally, an easy-going smile on her face to cover up her weird feelings.

She shouldn't feel weird, she didn't have the right to feel weird. Jade wasn't hers to feel weird over.

Jade didn't answer Andrè, or acknowledge him at all, her eyes too busy boring into the side of Tori's face as the other girl tried her best to look anywhere but at Jade. She watched Tori with a somewhat annoyed but mostly dazed expression, and Tori just knew that Jade took the Latina pulling away from her the wrong way. Tori wanted to say something… Explain why she pulled away. But Andrè was standing right there, and he was the entire reason why she did.

"Either of you interested in popping some Molly with me?" Andrè asked, looking proud of himself as he danced with Jade. Tori knew it must have taken a lot of self-encouragement for him to approach Jade and hold her the way he was.

"Sure." Jade answered with an all too eager smirk, bringing her eyes away from Tori to focus on her new dance partner behind her. Andrè brightened as Jade turned in his embrace and looped her arms around his neck, much like Tori had done just moments ago with her.

Tori glanced between the two of them with a churning feeling in her stomach. If she were still a freshman, she'd brush it off as the alcohol, but she was older and knew better now.

"I need another drink." Tori blurted, quickly excusing herself then disappearing into the crowd of dancing bodies. Though she doubted they'd even notice her absence, being so wrapped up in each other and their ideas of getting higher than Mountain Everest.

She paused in the doorway, watching the two of them dance together as the song switched to something slower.

"They are so lucky Beck is in Canada right now. He'd throw a fit if he saw them dancing together like that." Robbie spoke up suddenly, scaring the living hell out of Tori as he came to stand beside her in the doorway. He was watching Jade and Andrè, a judgmental look in his eyes. After her heartbeat returned to normal, Tori shrugged and opened her mouth to respond, only to snap it shut and abruptly turn away when she saw Andrè start to incline his head toward Jade.

"Beck and Jade broke up, that's part of why he went to Canada in the first place. She can dance with whoever she wants." She reminded both Robbie and herself, gritting her teeth as she scurried off toward the kitchen.

The ventriloquist blinked in confusion, fully expecting Tori to agree with him.

"You're only saying that because you were just dancing with her." Robbie argued, following her into the room. Tori stopped as she reached for the top-grade whiskey in the Sanchez's liquor cabinet, turning her head to narrow her eyes at him over her shoulder as she does so. She didn't like his accusatory tone, he'd made it sound like she should feel guilty about dancing with her friend.

"It's just dancing, Robbie." She supplied, hoping he'd leave it alone.

"Hmm, so, when she was kissing your neck, that was just dancing too?" The ventriloquist countered.

Tori froze, silently panicking and wondering if anybody else saw Jade kissing her. She didn't need those type of rumors floating around school.

"And what about that expensive bracelet and those earrings she got you? Are those just objects that hold no meaning?" Robbie pointed out.

Tori's hand subconsciously fell to the bracelet that Jade had given her earlier in the week, covering it as if to hide it away from Robbie's judgement.

"It was a late birthday gift." The Latina pouted.

"Last time I checked, Jade didn't buy birthday gifts for anyone, not even Beck." The ventriloquist argued.

"Where are you going with this, Robbie?"

"You have feelings for her." Robbie pointed out.

Tori's heartbeat quickened and she felt herself shift into panic-mode. She coughed out a high-pitched laugh, and started to fill her cup as if what Robbie just said was nonsense.

"Oh my god, that's-", Her voice cracked, "that's hilarious! I don't have feelings for Jade. We were just dancing as friends." Tori hurriedly explained, heading for the fridge to get a chaser.

"Right…" Robbie mumbled, eyeing Tori's back like he didn't believe a word she was saying.

Tori, thinking she was off the hook, let her shoulders sag with relief.

"It's just that-"

The Latina groaned in exasperation as she leaned into the fridge to avoid having to look Robbie in the eyes. Robbie glared daggers into her back, affronted at being interrupted.

"I know what pining looks like, Tori. I've experienced it many times." Robbie continued with a roll of his eyes, mostly in disbelief that Tori was going to such lengths to deny what he clearly already knew was true. Only to feel a stab of guilt at not realizing that it was entirely possible that Tori wasn't quite ready to admit her true feelings to herself just yet.

'She could be in denial about being gay...' Robbie thought to himself as he studied his friend.

"Even if I did have feelings for Jade, which I don't, I honestly don't see how it's such a big deal. Jade and I are both single." Tori countered, unaware of Robbie's inner turmoil and finally getting tired of the scrutiny.

"It's a big deal because if you're interested in her, and Andrè is interested in her—" Robbie flung his arm in the general direction of the living room where Andrè and Jade had been— "when Beck comes back from Canada ,likely still in love with her, it could disrupt the entire group's dynamic. Which will make things awkward, and then I'll have to eat lunch with Sinjin in the bathroom, for the rest of high school."

"This isn't the 1800's, Beck doesn't own her. What Jade does, whether she's with Beck or not, is her business, Robbie. Don't worry yourself over it." Tori said, as she started for the door.

And Robbie supposed she had a point but he thought had one as well.

"I can't eat lunch in the bathroom, Tori, I just can't. It's too unsanitary and Sinjin's weird. Please just leave her alone. You guys are the only friends I have." He begged.

Tori hesitated at the kitchen's entrance, then turned to her friend with a forced smile and played it off as a joke, "It won't be that bad, Burf will be there too."

"Tori, this is serious! Everybody doesn't always get together with their crush, can't you just go screw somebody else like a normal teenager? You have that option, you are a normal teenager!" " Robbie cried.

Tori's eyes rolled back into her head, she was getting really tired of the lecture.

"Nothing's going to happen to our group, Rob. You guys practically live at my house. We're friends for life. You should really take a chill pill, y'know? Why don't you ask Jade to hook you up? I'm sure she knows a guy."

He sighed, a tired-sounding puff of air leaving his lungs as his body deflated. Tori was just too damn stubborn and clueless sometimes. Once she wanted something, there was no convincing her not to have it. No matter how bad for her it was.

"I'm not a delinquent, Tori. I don't do drugs. Anyway, I think I saw Laura from my Ballet class out back. I'm gonna try and talk to her tonight." He mumbled half-heartedly, not really wanting to change the subject but knowing that it was probably best to let this go for now.

He wasn't getting anywhere.

Tori let out a gentle sigh of relief, thankful to be given an out.

"See, there's the spirit! You got this, Robbie." She patted his shoulder encouragingly, easily stepping in to be the supportive friend she wished he would be for her. She left him then, making a beeline for the hallway, desperate to put some distance between them.

* * *

Tori ended up just walking around Veronica's house for a bit, exploring the large rooms and finishing off her drink to keep her mind from straying. Her lips tingled from the alcohol and her body felt warm all over.

Veronica's family had a lot of nice things.

But for rich people, the Sanchez's didn't buy a lot of actual furniture. So, Tori had found the nearest bathroom and made herself comfortable.

The porcelain dog-thing that Tori was currently leaning against was beautifully crafted and looked extremely expensive. Though, she couldn't figure out why you would want one of those in your bathroom, it did make a nice place to rest and get her bearings. It felt cool against her skin, which grounded her to reality.

Tori jumped suddenly as the door opened, and Veronica walked in.

Immediately, the newcomer's face scrunched up in annoyance before it melted away into curiosity.

"Have you seen Jade? Is she here yet?" The other girl demanded excitedly.

"Go ask Andrè." Tori mumbled bitterly, resting her head back against the porcelain dog.

"Ugh, why is she with him?" Veronica whined, stomping her foot like a child.

Tori winced at the sensory overload from Veronica's high-pitched voice, as well as the loud clack of the spoiled girl's heel making contact with the marble bathroom floor.

"Low attention span? ...Oh, god," Tori moaned, trying to look like she was about to be sick so that the other girl would leave her alone.

"...You better not throw up in my bathroom, otherwise you're going to clean it." Veronica sneered venomously, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring. Only to sigh very loudly and impatiently, as she walked over to the very drunk girl and drug Tori over to the toilet.

Unfortunately for Tori, she hadn't actually been faking her upset stomach. So, when Veronica bent down and gently held Tori's hair back, the other Latina emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

Tori was genuinely surprised by the other girl's kindness, considering the way Veronica had been so cold to her the past week. But now, here she was, picking Tori up off the floor and giving her mouth wash and a spare tooth brush to get the lingering taste of bile of out her mouth.

"C'mon, let's get you to the living room where your friends can find you." Veronica mumbled after Tori was done, guiding Tori to the door and out of the bathroom.

* * *

Veronica had unceremoniously dumped her onto a seat on a black, leather, couch in the living and then abruptly left to go search for Jade.

The living room, as it turned out, was the room where all the potheads had decided to congregate. But Tori would much rather stay there with them than go find her friends, she needed some time to herself to think.

Mostly about Jade and how the other girl had easily brushed her off for Andre. She really could have sworn that Jade was into her. If she wasn't, then what was with all the flirting and touching?

The Latina jumped in surprise as some random stoner plopped down on the couch right beside her. He was sitting so close to her he was practically in her lap, she wanted to scoot away but didn't want to offend him by doing so. The boy gave her a dopey smile and offered her his half-smoked blunt. Tori gratefully accepted it, scooting out from underneath him as she took a hit.

She closed her eyes and reveled at the feeling of the weed burning her lungs, blowing it back out towards the ceiling after holding it in became harder. God, she'd needed this. Her nerves were killing her.

"Sup." The boy purred flirtatiously, his voice raspy with a thick Hispanic accent. His eyebrows wiggled to add emphasis to his words.

"...Hey?" Tori returned awkwardly, not entirely sure how to respond.

"You don't know me, but I been trying to get your attention for awhile. Even asked some of your friends to hook us up. Any reason why you ain't texted me yet?" He asked, long hair spilling into his face slightly as he cocked his head to the side with a curious grin.

While he stared at her in contemplation, she took the time to study this generous stranger as well. Now that he mentioned it, Tori did kind of recognize him. His skin was a beautiful mocha color, and he had dark brown eyes that she found a little captivating. His voluminous hair was jet-black with blonde highlights all throughout, the top was long while the sides were shaved with a crisp taper fade on his hairline. He had the beginnings of a thin mustache on his upper lip and a slight stubble on his chin. His nose was a little wide but in an adorable way, and his lips were pink and full.

All around, she supposed he was an attractive boy.

"Sorry, I didn't know anything about that. Plus, this last week has been kind of busy for me. We have this super important play that we're performing at the end of the year, so I've been studying information on it this whole week." Tori finally answered him, looking a little apologetic.

"Well, then I suppose we could exchange numbers now. No time like the present, right? I like the way you sing by the way...very pretty." He mumbled as he leaned back against the couch and fished his phone out of his pocket. She smiled at him while she took another hit and added her contact into his phone.

"Thanks...?" She trailed off, blowing out the smoke and hoping that he'd give her his name.

"Jaime Herrera." He provided, throwing her a quick wink.

They smoked the rest of the blunt together in companionable silence, both enjoying the other's company. As Tori relaxed back against the couch, savoring her high and feeling like her problems were a thing of the past, Jaime fidgeted restlessly beside her.

Upon deeper inspection, Tori realized he was actually searching his pockets for something.

"Lose your lighter?" Tori smirked, eyes glinting in mirth. Jaime stopped patting himself down when his search turned up fruitless and slumped in defeat. He didn't respond to Tori as his eyes bounced desperately around the room until they found their apparent target.

"Be right back." He mumbled, getting up and leaving a very confused Tori behind on the couch. Tori watched her new friend cross the room and search the pockets of some guy that was passed out on floor. When Jaime returned to her he was wearing his hugest grin yet.

"Why'd you-"

"One blunt wasn't enough," Jaime interrupted, his smile never wavering as he brandished a bag of weed and a blue lighter. Tori glanced back and forth between Jaime and the boy on the floor repeatedly, jaw-dropped in astonishment.

"You just took his stuff." Tori stated in incredulous, nodding toward the passed out teen.

"Matt won't mind, he owe me. 'Fronted him two g's last week and he still hasn't paid me back. Pinche madre." Jaime cursed with a shake of his head, dashing away Tori's sympathy for Matt. She watched silently as Jaime grabbed the coffee table across from her and dragged it over in front of him.

"Still, it's pretty rude for you to take it from him while he's sleeping. What kind of a friend does that?" Tori inquired, watching with slight interest as he pulled a grinder out from his pocket and ground up the weed.

"That prick ain't my friend, alright? He's just a customer, a bad customer at that. Never pays me back on time, the least he can do is let me borrow a blunt." He spread the green out expertly on the broken down swisher he'd also pickpocketed from Matt. Jaime rolled it up with ease then turned to her and grinned. Tori only stared back at him blankly.

"Don't be so uppity about it, mami. If it makes you happy, I'll smoke it with you." He singsonged, bumping her shoulder playfully with his own.

"Mami?" Tori questioned, fixing him with a look that said 'Seriously?'.

"Felt right." Jaime shrugged.

"I guess, just don't expect me to start calling you 'Papi'." Tori hummed, dropping her head back against the couch to stare up at the ceiling in thought.

"Fair enough. So..." Jaime started, laying his freshly rolled blunt down on the table and wiping his palms nervously on his designer jeans.

"So...?" Tori echoed, turning her head so that she could properly look at Jaime. Some of her chestnut hair fell into her face at the action, her cheek resting comfortably against the couch.

Jaime's heartbeat quickened at the sight. He was utterly transfixed by the way her eyes shone, and the soft look her face had adopted.

"I, uh, go to a lot of Veronica's parties, haven't ever seen you at any of 'em before. I mean, her crowd ain't really your crowd. What made you come to this one?" Jaime wondered.

"Well, Veronica personally invited me for one, though I'm not really sure why. We haven't even spoken three words to each other and I've gone to this school for three years. But, I dunno, I just really needed to escape my house for a night-"

"Lemme guess, Trina?" Jaime guessed, interrupting her with a knowing look. It seemed her sister's annoying reputation preceded her.

Tori shook her head then slammed her eyes shut, realizing what an incredibly bad idea that is to do when you're uncomfortably high and a little drunk.

"My mom." She corrected, after recovering from her dizzy spell, a forlorn look engulfing her face.

"Want to talk about it?" Jaime offered, picking up on the tension there from her tone.

"I'd actually rather not think about it at all." Tori responded. She didn't want to get into her family drama with some guy she'd just met.

Who does that?

"That's okay, you don't have to share if you don't feel like it. That's what drugs are for, right? Forgetting shit you don't want to think about." He said, offering her a warm smile and a comforting hand on her own. She returned the smile and gave his hand a quick squeeze before letting go. Jaime stared at her for a moment, taking in her gorgeous features again, before quickly shaking his head and returning his attention to his blunt. Putting it between his lips and lighting it, he took a couple hits to start it off before passing it to Tori.

* * *

Tori giggled melodiously along with Jaime as she ran her hands through his hair, her legs strewn comfortably across his lap. She didn't know how much time had passed since she first got to the living room, she didn't even think time was real at this point. She was so far gone.

"What's so interesting about my hair?" Jaime asked, a euphoric smile on his face as he watched her.

"It's so...long and blonde. How did you ever convince your parents to let you dye it?" Tori grinned back at him with a child-like playfulness. He chuckled and traced patterns on the knees of her jeans with his fingertips.

"You're so high, mami. Two blunts and you're already faded." Jaime teased, his hand slowly traveling from her knee to her thigh.

"I don't smoke often." Tori offered with a shrug, too busy musing up Jaime's hair to pay attention to his hands. He wasn't up to anything too inappropriate anyway, he'd just gone from tracing patterns on her knee to her thigh.

"You couldn't smoke with me then. My weed would have you smacked, and I just be domin' them." Jaime returned with a grin, eyes moving around the room to see if there was anything in rotation. A freshly rolled extendo was being passed to a timid looking boy that had been sitting quietly on his phone in the corner most of the night. The boy looked up and locked eyes with Jaime accidentally, and when they did the boy froze.

A silent, seemingly-tense conversation passed briefly between the two boys with a look.

A few moments passed, then Tori watched in bewilderment as the timid looking boy shyly approached them and offered Jaime the extendo. He hadn't even hit it himself yet.

"Appreciate it, dude," Jaime nodded back his thanks and took the blunt, lips curled in a grateful smile. The boy ducked his head before hurriedly shuffling back to his corner.

"What was that about?" Tori asked curiously, eyes narrowed as she looked from Jaime to the boy who pointedly didn't look in their direction. Jaime's smile dropped for a moment, his free hand stilling on her thigh. A disconnected look crossed his face but before Tori could ask if she said something wrong, he was back to his chipper self as if nothing had happened.

Wiggling his eyebrows he said, "Not everyone has the pleasure of seeing your beautiful face everyday. You're pretty popular around school, maybe he was just starstruck."

Tori gave him a look that said she didn't believe him but didn't bother to question him any further, quietly resuming running her hands through his hair.

"Want to try a shotgun?" He asked, trying to ease the awkwardness he'd created. Tori shrugged and started to nod as if to say "why not?"

But something across the room caught her eye, disrupting her train of thought and holding her complete attention.

Jade was in the doorway, head swiveling from side-to-side as if she were looking for something. Tori watched her silently, her new companion momentarily forgotten. She was casually leaning against the door's frame, dressed in the same clothes as earlier— only her Gunz N Roses crop-top was on inside out and backwards. But Tori was trying really hard not to focus too much on that minor detail.

Jade's eyes scanned the room until they found Tori, smirking when she recognized her and starting toward the Latina. She crossed the room in a couple quick strides.

"Vega, I've been looking everywhere for you. You just disappeared earlier." Jade said, her voice full of relief as she stood in front of Tori.

Stopping short as she took in Tori sitting in Jaime's lap with her hands in his hair, and him tracing patterns on Tori's thighs.

The two of them looked quite comfortable and intimate, you never would've guessed that they'd just met an hour ago.

The raven-haired girl set her jaw and furrowed her brow, the Latina only smiled goofily up at her, oblivious to Jade's brewing anger.

"Well, I've been here just talking to... uh... Jaime." Tori stammered, ruffling his hair to try and cover up her almost forgetting the boy's name. Jade's eyes cut to Jaime, hostile and icy.

"Jaime, this is Jade." Tori introduced, when Jade didn't say anything. There was a longing look in her eyes as she stared at the darker-haired girl.

"Oh, we know each other. Jade is starting to become a regular. You need a re-up already, bruja?" Jaime spoke, giving Jade a friendly salute.

Jade sneered at him for a moment before quickly turning her attention back to Tori.

"I still owe you a dance, ours was interrupted." Jade stated, holding her hand out to Tori expectantly. Desperate to get the other girl out of her drug dealer's lap.

"I'm too tired to dance." Tori whined, laying flat out on the couch. Jade gave an irritated huff before shaking her head and moving to grab the stoned Latina.

Jaime jokingly threw his arm over Tori's legs, and drew her closer to himself.

"I believe the señorita said she didn't want to go." He teased, a boysterious grin on his lips.

"Get your fucking hands off of her before I rip them off of your wrists!" Jade snarled viciously, snapping her head to glare at him with murder in her eyes. Jaime swallowed thickly, his smiling dropping immediately into a cold glare, but he slowly moved his arm back. Tori lifted herself to her elbows and gave Jade a dry look.

"We were gonna do a shotgun, you party pooper."

Jaime warily locked eyes with Jade before pulling Tori up back into his lap. Jade was practically breathing fire.

"Tori, don't-"

"You don't have to watch, Jade. I'm sure Andrè wouldn't mind some company." Tori interrupted Jade's fiery protest snidely.

Jade snapped her mouth shut with aggravated indi, crossing her arms tightly over her chest and glaring pointedly at the wall on the other side of the room. Jaime's eyes flicked between the two of them briefly, then he mentally shrugged and re-sparked the blunt. He took one long drag and curled his fingers underneath Tori's chin. Gently, he pulled her face so that it was inches away from his own. His thumb traced softly down her bottom lip, silently telling Tori to open her mouth and to which she complied. Jaime smiled as he leaned in, a small upturn of his lips, and breathed the smoke from the hit into Tori's mouth as she inhaled it. The smoke burned the back of her throat as it made its way down her windpipe and into her lungs. But soon Josh's lips were on her's and she forgot all about the burning.

Tori jerked away from him in surprise, almost tumbling off of his lap onto the floor. Jaime quickly caught her, pulling her back up to sit next to him.

"I'm pretty sure shotgunning doesn't involve kissing." She blinked a couple of times, slightly dazed and disoriented from the weed.

"You've been doing shotguns with the wrong types of people then, mami." Jaime remarked smugly, leaning back against the couch. They'd both almost completely forgotten about Jade until she spoke up.

"You call that a shotgun?" Jade hissed, still standing in front of them and looking absolutely livid. Her knuckles were white and the skin around her biceps were red from the tight grip of her fingers. But Jaime merely shrugged in the face of her anger then sent her a mischievous grin, as a dastardly idea sprung to his mind.

"Think you could do better, huh?" He challenged with a playful wiggle of his brows, and Tori was slightly afraid for his life because no one challenged Jade and got away with it. The raven-haired girl's nostrils flared sharply before she snatched the blunt from him.

"This is my lucky day! Two kisses from two pretty girls!" He chirped, sitting up eagerly. Tori suddenly wished she hadn't finished her drink, desperately needing something to distract herself. She definitely did not want to see Jaime and Jade do a shotgun, especially if they were doing it by Jaime's so called rules.

Jade rolled her eyes, scoffing at the boy as she pulled Tori's legs from his lap and wedged herself in between the two of them. Ignoring the look of surprise on both their faces, she took a long drag then cupped Tori's face in her hands. Tori blinked her irritated eyes when the smoke rose into them.

Jade pulled Tori's face close to her own, and Tori opened her mouth for her immediately. Jade's pierced eyebrow twitched as if she wanted to smile, but instead her eyes fell to the other girl's lips and she breathed the smoke into the her mouth. Again, Tori felt the burning in the back of her throat as she inhaled, but she braved through it like a champ. Her eyes staring into Jade's, suddenly noticing how blown her pupils were.

Tori blew the smoke back in Jade's face, then leaned in and pressed her lips against Jade's. Jade smiled into the kiss and responded for a moment before pulling back a ways.

"What happened to "shotgunning doesn't involve kissing"?" Jade mumbled huskily, eyes half-lidded and clouded over with lust.

"I like his way better," Tori shrugged, capturing Jade's lips in another kiss.

Jade inhaled sharply before deepening the kiss by sucking Tori's bottom lip in-between her teeth and softly nibbling it. A small noise left Tori's throat at the action. She felt Jade's hands fall from her face to grab her hips and pull her closer, Tori's arms automatically encircling the raven-haired girl's neck. Her head was starting to spin and her heart thumped rapidly in her chest, like it was trying to burst through.

Subconsciously, Tori knew that this was a sign that she was running out of air but she didn't care if she suffocated. She never wanted Jade's lips to leave hers. She'd waited so long for Jade to kiss her, it was like a dream come true.

Tori pulled away reluctantly, her head had started to throb from the lack of oxygen.

She noisily sucked in a huge gulp of much needed air, her chest heaving painfully as she blinked dizzily at Jade's eyelids. Jade chased after her lips, and Tori couldn't suppress her smile when the other girl whimpered in disappointment. But the Latina still needed to catch her breath.

She made the mistake of glancing at the rest of the room, only to find their eyes already on her, equal looks of surprise and shock on their faces. She cringed, blushing bashfully at the position she'd found herself in. Tori was in Jade's lap, her legs straddling the other girl's waist while Jade's hands squeezed her ass.

The Latina chanced a glance at Jaime to find him also staring at her with a slacked jaw and a pitched tent, which disturbed her a bit. She turned her attention back to Jade, who was fixing her with a look that made something much lower than Tori's stomach clench.

An "I want to tear all your clothes off and take you right here on this couch." kind of look.

Tori barely had time to blink before Jade thrusted the blunt in her face; it had gone out sometime during their kiss, silently requesting that she hold it. Jade stood and lifted Tori with her, only to set her down on the floor once they were upright and take the blunt back.

"We're keeping this." Jade informed Jaime, not even bothering to give him a courtesy glance before wrapping her fingers around Tori's wrist, and leading her out of the living room.

He stared after them with a confused frown.

* * *

It doesn't take them long to find a bedroom and the whole way there Tori was nervous.

She was drunk and high, and had never been with a girl before, it was scary. But Tori was also extremely excited, she's wanted Jade for so long and she couldn't believe this was happening.

Jade was the first one in the room, she set her stolen treasure on the night stand then sidled up to Tori with a playful smirk.

"Hey." Jade whispered.

"Hi..." Tori softly returned, breath caught in her chest by how truly beautiful Jade looked.

Jade leaned in to kiss her again and Tori relaxed, getting lost in responding to Jade's lips. Jade looped her fingers through Tori's belt loops and pulled her back with her until Jade was sitting back on the bed and looking up at Tori with a hopeful expression. Tori settled into Jade's lap on the bed, taking face in her hands and kissing her again, wrapping her legs around Jade's middle.

Jade moved her hands to Tori's hips, her thumbs rubbing soft circles on her pelvic bones. The darker-haired girl laid back on the bed, letting Tori take control as the Latina put more and more force into their kiss.

But Tori froze and pulled back, looking at Jade with a confused and terrified expression.

"Jade, I... I don't know what I'm doing. I've never..." She trailed off, immediately unsure of herself.

Jade looked at her with a soft expression then guided Tori's face back down to hers, and kisses her gently.

"It's okay, I've done this before." Jade reassured, then smoothly switched their positions so that she was on top.

Tori let her, eyes rolling into the back of her head when she felt Jade's hand press against her through her underwear.

Tori pulled her mouth away from Jade's to shudder and softly moan, "Oh, god."

Jade smiled proudly then leaned down to suck on Tori's neck while massaging her clit.

Tori was honestly in heaven at the moment. Being groped by the girl she's been dreaming about for two years? She never in a million years thought this would ever happen. And yet, she wasn't sure she wanted it to happen like this.

"Ja-ah! Jade, wait. Can we, ugh, can we pause for a moment?" Tori somehow managed to get that out between whimpers.

Jade stopped and blinked several times before she pulled back, "What? What's wrong?"

Tori caught her breath and tried to calm herself down.

"I just... I don't think I'm ready to go all the way yet."

Jade took this in and digested it, her shoulders slump in disappointment.

"Would it... Is it okay if we continued this when we're a little more sober and clear-headed?" Tori timidly suggested.

Jade appeared to think this over then slid off of Tori. Tori feared that Jade was going to leave, and that she just blew her chance with her forever.

But Jade doesn't go far, choosing to lay next Tori with her arm folded underneath her head. Jade stared at her for a bit, the moonlight casting a soft glow on her eyes from the window.

"That's okay." Jade whispered, her other hand brushes some of Tori's hair behind her ear, then she leans over and presses one last kiss against Tori's lips.

They fell asleep soon after that.

* * *

**Oof, sorry this is so long. I don't have time right now to edit it so lmk if there's any mistakes.**

**Translations(I'm going to be using a lot of these bc Tori's abuela only speaks Spanish. And also, it's not gon kill y'all to read a little Española.**

**Ay bendito - Oh my god. You know like you're complaining/exasperated. It's literal translation is Oh blessed but the way Tori uses is "Ugggh, oh my god."**

**Dios Mio - My god. Different from Ay bendito.**

**Tori's Middle Name***

**I know Victoria's middle name is Dawn so I kinda tried to incorporate that into Tori's name. Sol means Sun in Spanish, I just added an "A" at the end to make it sound more feminine.**

**One** **last thing, Jade's flings are going to pop up a lot in this fic. It's angst, y'all, gotta keep the drama flowing. That being said, it's not supposed to take away from Jori's relationship. In the previous two chapters, she slept around with different girls but the important takeaway from that is she was imagining she was with Tori each time. Sorry, if that wasn't clear. Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed it. See ya next week hopefully.**


	4. Jealous Minds Think Alike Pt 2

_**This is another long read and i'm sorry this took so long for me to upload. But hopefully y'all will enjoy this. i'll add translations tomorrow after i wake up. Thank you, Skyler for the spanish advice, i'll also add in those corrections tomorrow. i'd be more than grateful for more tips. if anybody is wondering Jaime looks and talks like Kap G , he's a Mexican rapper. i fw with his song La Policia heavy. And Veronica looks like Melanie Iglesias. but let me know what y'all think, and tell me if there anything that bugs you.**_

* * *

_**Jealous Minds Think Alike [Prt. 2]**_

_**Sunday, February 12th, 2010**_

_**Bee-beep, bee-beep, bee-beep, bee-**_

"Shut that fucking thing off, my god." Jade grumbled groggily, her nose buried in Tori's neck and one arm draped around her waist.

Tori blinked open her blurry eyes, hissing at the headache she was immediately greeted with upon entering the land of consciousness.

Her heart thundered in her chest as disorientation set in. She didn't recognize the room she was in, all she knew was that she was next to Jade and very warm.

That annoying ass alarm wasn't helping her headache either.

She rolled out of Jade's embrace and over onto her side, whining as her back popped from just that action.

Tori took a couple deep breaths, trying to mentally summon the physical strength and energy to search for her phone. It could honestly be anywhere.

"It's on the fucking night stand. Shut it off before I throw it out the fucking window." Jade's venomous threat was muffled by the pillow her head was stuck in.

Or, it could be on the night stand.

Tori's arm shot out toward the night stand, blindly searching for her phone. Her hand brushed against something pear-shaped, Tori immediately snatched it up and held it up to her face for inspection.

"Shit!" Tori cursed, getting a look at the time as she shut off the alarm. She wasted no time in hopping out of bed. Jade lifted her head out of the pillow and glared sleepily over at the distressed Latina.

"Are you always this goddamn noisy in the morning?" The shadow-haired girl complained irritably. Tori ignored her in favor of running over to the hair dresser to examine herself, nearly crying at the sight of the frizzled mess on top of her head.

"Never pegged you for the get some and get gone type, Vega," Jade yawned as she sat up and watched Tori desperately drag a comb through her unruly hair. "Who knew you had it in you?"

"I'm not usually. I have to be at church with my family in an hour or my mom is going to kill me." Tori rushed to explain.

"Why am I not surprised that you're a good, little Christian, girl? You probably go to church every Sunday, huh?" Jade teased, not one to ever pass up a chance to mess with Tori.

Jade chuckled softly at her own joke as she plucked the blunt from last night off the night stand. The Latina watched as the other girl put it between her lips then produced a lighter from her pockets and lit it, while continuing to watch Tori in appreciation.

"I'm Catholic. Do you have a hair tie?" " Tori responded absentmindedly, turning to Jade expectantly as she pulled her hair back.

"There a difference?" Jade deadpanned, motioning with her fingers for Tori to approach her.

"Yeah...? A big difference." Tori retorted, obediently coming over and holding Jade's blunt for her when it was offered, then turning around to face the doorway so that the other girl could pull Tori's hair back into a bun.

Jade was unusually gentle and delicate with her hair, and Tori found herself wondering what it would feel like for the darker-haired girl to casually run her fingers through it.

"Well, how am I supposed to know that? I'm not religious." Jade said, responding to Tori's earlier question. She reclaimed her blunt and sat back on her hands after finishing Tori's hair. Despite her best efforts, some strands of the chestnut locks still poked out the top of Tori's head.

"You're the one who asked..." Tori slowly pointed out, giving Jade a bewildered look over her shoulder as the Latina moved away to find her shoes.

"Yeah, an innocent question that didn't deserve a rude answer." Jade replied, stretching her arms over her head.

"How was that rude? I was answering your- You know what? Nevermind. I don't have time for this. Though, you are certainly a lot of _fun_ to deal with in the morning." Tori dryly tossed over her shoulder as she started to leave the bedroom, shaking her head as she went. She really didn't have time to bicker with Jade, Tori needed to find Andrè and get home before her parents noticed she was gone.

She was pretty sure that if they found out about her staying all night at a party in Beverly Hills, then they would never let her leave the house until she graduated.

"Can you just wait for a second? Jesus Christ, some of us are still hungover." Jade called, scrambling to catch up with her.

"I literally don't have time to wait, Jade." Tori insisted, never breaking pace as she sped down the stairs. She could hear Jade trying to keep up with her in the background.

Reaching the living room, Tori tried to search for Andrè among the sleeping teens as quietly as she could. But the musician was nowhere to be found.

"Shit," She cursed under her breath before desperately turning to Jade who had just walked into the room, "Jade, do you know where Andrè might be? He was my ride."

"Uh, Vega, we woke up together, how the hell would I have seen Andrè between then and now?" Jade snarked.

"...Also, he may have left last night." The shadow-haired girl added as an after thought.

"What?! Why didn't you tell me?! I'm so screwed!" Tori screeched, earning a few glares from several groggy partygoers in the process.

"_I_ could give you a ride." Jade offered quietly, not meeting Tori's eyes in favor of glaring right back at the grumpy teenagers. She silently dared them to voice their frustration, Jade had been itching to punch something for the past two weeks.

"Would you? I'd really appreciate that..." Tori said, a soft, appreciative, grin spreading slowly along her face.

On their way out, they passed the kitchen where Veronica was chatting with one of her friends.

"Jade! Can we talk really quick?" Veronica called out, immediately spotting said girl.

"Fuck." Jade whispered under her breath, glancing over at Tori.

"I'll be back in two seconds." The raven-haired girl assured, not really wanting to talk to Veronica but knowing that the Sanchez girl wouldn't leave her alone otherwise.

"I really have to go." Tori insisted with a regretful look as she started toward the front door, fully prepared to walk the whole way home.

She lived in _Burbank_.

As Tori made her descent down the driveway, a red Honda Civic slowly pulled up to her. The window rolled down and Tori vaguely recognized the driver as the boy she'd smoked with last night.

"Need a ride?" Jaime asked with a grin, practically leering at her.

"Why? So you can kidnap me or something? No, thanks. I'll be fine walking." Tori insisted.

Truthfully, he seemed like an okay guy, but her father had drilled the "Don't get into cars with random men" shtick into her head so prominently that she was never going to take that chance.

And hostility was the only way to get through to a man, it seemed.

"You look cold." Jaime observed.

"You look like a creep." Tori returned.

"I'm not tryna be a creep, I'm just tryna to be nice. It's an awful long walk to Hollywood Hills from here." The Latino boy remarked, playful grin never falling.

Tori stopped walking, glaring at her pesterer, she demanded, "How do you know where I live? My dad's a cop, I have him on speed dial."

That seems to give Jaime pause.

"Shit, seriously? I was just guessin' cause I see you walk home from school sometimes. My friend Wyatt lives on the corner of your street... I don't, like, stalk you and shit." He quickly backtracked.

Tori shook her head, she _so_ did not have time for this boy at moment. She continued on with her walk, Jaime still slowly keeping pace with her in his car.

"Cops are assholes though, y'know?" He said.

Bad move.

Her head snapped in his direction, hungover and patience already wearing thin.

"You think _I_ don't know _that_?! You think I haven't had bad experiences with cops just because my dad is one?! My best friend and I can't drive around his home town because we were stopped one time, and almost shot when he reached for his license! My dad's not like that. He just wants to put away actual criminals. Like _creeps_ who try to lure girls into their cars, never to be seen again!" She shot back scathingly.

"Whoa! O-Kay! Look, I'm sorry! I didn't mean... I'm sorry."

Tori simply rolled her eyes in response as she kept walking down the Sanchez's annoyingly long driveway, blood now boiling.

"I'm one of the good ones, mami. I promise, I just wanna make sure you get home okay." Jaime insisted, his sincere tone matching the smile he was sporting.

She wanted to ignore him. Her headache strongly told her to, but oh boy, did her body hurt.

Tori stopped and bit her lip as she seriously considered getting a ride from him, she _was_ cold and her house _was_ an awfully long walk from Beverly Hills.

But, just as Tori's hand settled on the passenger side handle Jade pulled up on the side of them.

"You coming or what?" The pale girl demanded.

Tori got into Jade's car without a second thought.

* * *

They came to a stop outside Tori's house and the Latina paused before getting out.

"About last night..." Tori began.

"Tori, we don't have to-"

"Thank you for not pushing me, and respecting my boundaries."

"I, uhm... You don't have to thank me for that."

"No, but I'm going to." Tori hummed, as she leaned across the arm rest and kissed Jade's cheek, feeling Jade's entire body tense up and then relax into her.

Tori pulled away with a smile, her hand on the door handle.

"Well, have fun at church, praying for last night's sins and what not. You have a lot to repent for." Jade mumbled, clearing her throat to dispel any lingering awkwardness.

"Have fun getting blazed at seven in the morning." Tori returned, sliding out of the car and standing out on the curb as they talked.

"Oh, I will. See you Monday." With that, Jade nodded her goodbye then sped off.

Tori was beaming when she snuck around back and in through her balcony, only to be greeted by the sight of her older sister sleeping peacefully in her bed.

"Trina, Trina!" Tori hissed quietly, gently shaking her sister's shoulders to try and rouse her, careful to keep her own voice low so that she wouldn't wake her sleeping abuela in the next room.

Trina slowly came to with a pitiful moan, opening her eyes slightly then rolling them shut after seeing who woke her. Only to snap her eyes open immediately after

and pin Tori to the spot with with an accusatory look.

"You! Where were you last night?! You totally owe me $50 for covering for you!" Trina exclaimed.

"Lower your voice! And thanks. I was just studying with my friends and we lost track of time, so we stayed the night at Andrè's." Tori tried to calmly explain.

"You smell like weed and look like sex. Go take a shower before mom smells you and has a heart attack, or papi murders you." Trina deadpanned, holding her hand out expectantly for her payment.

Tori rolled her eyes, but pinched the hem of her shirt, sniffing it experimentally and... yeah, she could definitely use a shower.

Possibly, some toothpaste as well.

She groaned then handed Trina twenty and started to usher her older sister out of the room.

"Hey, I said-"

"That's all I have!" Tori griped lowly, closing her door with a soft thud and locking it, then started heading toward her en suite to get ready for church.

* * *

**Monday Feb 13****, 2010**

Tori and Andre sat next to each other during Sikowitz's class. They were only partially listening as the teacher once again prattled on about Antony and Cleopatra, and how the two lovers were destined for tragedy.

Andre elbowed Tori in the middle of Sikowitz's lesson, drawing her attention before he nodded over to Jade who was sat on the other side of the room with Cat. The dark haired girl was leering over at them, it seemed.

"Jade's so checking me out." The musician claimed boldly, a proud, confident smile beaming on his face.

Jade, having noticed him, noticing her, quickly turned her attention to Sikowitz. A somewhat frustrated frown now adorning her features.

Tori looked over to see Jade looking at Sikowitz. She raised an eyebrow at her best friend curiously, who crossed his arms over his chest and slumped in his seat.

"I swear, she was just looking at me." Andrè pouted.

A couple minutes passed, then Tori's PearPhone vibrated in her pocket.

_**Dr Drè: She's doing it again. I think she got scared when she saw us look over.**_

Tori chuckled a little to herself at the idea of Jade being scared of anything, before she looked up and met Jade's eyes. Jade straightened at the attention and flicked her eyes toward the door before meeting Tori's again with a smirk, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Tori smiled at her with a roll of her eyes before she leaned back in her seat, confident that Jade was looking at her.

"She's _so_ not looking at you." Tori taunted.

"Um, we fucked last night so I'm pretty sure she's looking at me." Andrè returned, looking over at his best friend with a petulant frown.

Tori paused and blinked at Andrè, thrown into complete disbelief, she asked, "Hang on, you _fucked_ Jade last night? When?"

"In the bathroom, after we took that molly. She probably wants seconds, most girls do." He drug his bottom lip in between his teeth seductively as he stared over at Jade, who was still not paying attention to him in the slightest.

Tori shook her head, closing her eyes and trying not to focus on the annoyance and betrayal she felt.

Her brow furrowed, "But..."

She just barely stopped herself from saying "I _like_ her." Andrè already knew that, he knew that after they talked last week.

Yet, he still went after Jade.

"I thought you liked Pepper." Tori said instead, heaving a resigned sigh through her nose and crossing her arms over her chest.

Andrè shrugged "I mean, she's hot and everything but with Jade, I don't know, it feels..." He trailed off searching for right words.

"Meant to be?" Tori guessed for him with a bitter mumble, staring forward but not really looking at anything.

Andrè looked over at Tori, pausing at her sudden mood change.

"Hey, you said I could make a move on her so I did."

"Well, yeah, but that was before-"

"Andrè, Tori! Is there a reason your conversation can't wait until after class?"

The two looked at each in horror before glancing guiltily up at their teacher, too terrified that they had been overheard to respond to his question.

"Well, since you two are so chatty, please come up here and tell us what is so interesting." Sikowitz called, from the middle of the stage where he had been teaching his lesson just moments before.

"Welp, well, you see-"

"This is boring, I'm leaving." Jade exclaimed with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, interrupting Andrè as she walked toward the door, raising her eyebrows pointedly at Tori as she went.

Everyone watched Jade leave then turned back to Tori and Andrè expectantly.

"Well, I watched this documentary about how aliens can disguise themselves as people..." Tori began awkwardly, anxiously rubbing the back of her neck.

"And I told her that there was no way aliens existed, of course because-"

"How do _you_ know that?" Robbie argued conversationally, interrupting Andrè yet again.

"What?" Andrè asked, dumbfounded as he squinted at the ventriloquist.

"How do you know aliens don't exist? Are you a scientist? Have you been to space? You seriously think _we're_ the only beings in the universe?" Robbie continued, prompting others in the room to join in on the conversation.

Soon the whole class had erupted into an argument about whether or not aliens were real, while Sikowitz could only watch from the sidelines in disappointment.

"Uh, Sikowitz? Is it okay if I use the restroom?" Tori asked, eyebrow raised at the strange situation unfolding before them.

"Sure, why not? Nobody's going to listen to me now anyway. Brock, put Robbie down! You can't punch him because he's saying words you don't understand!" Sikowitz yelled, stepping away from Tori to go save Robbie.

Andrè gave her a dirty look, seeming to have already guessed her plan but Tori ignored him in favor of wandering off in search of Jade.

And the Latina has found her in the Blackbox, reclining on a small, red, couch that the set crew had left out the night before, for a play.

Jade was looking at her phone and smoking a joint when Tori walked in, and the other girl had grinned when she saw her.

"Took you long enough, thought you were just gonna sit in there the whole period like a good, _Catholic_, girl." Jade teased, as Tori approached the stage.

"Had to make up an excuse, I'm not a hooligan like you who just walks out of class." Tori said, stopping in front of Jade to take the joint from her and inhale.

The chestnut-haired girl tilted her head as she took the time to examine Jade, the paler girl had ditched her clothes from earlier and was now wearing a Roman general robe with a laurel wreath atop her head.

"What are you wearing?" Tori finally asked, blowing the smoking back out with one eyebrow raised curiously. She took one last toke before passing it back to Jade.

"You took so long I got bored, decided to play dress up. I swiped the costume off the rack from the back." Jade taunted with a shrug as she reclaimed her joint.

"Mark Antony?" Tori guessed with a roll of her eyes.

"_In these confines with a monarch's voice, cry "Havoc!". And let loose the dogs of war!_" Jade grunted out, puffing her chest and making a serious face. It dropped a second later when she smirked at Tori, holding up an Egyptian headdress.

"Wanna be my Cleopatra? I'm pretty sure Sikowitz is gonna pick us for the leads anyway." She drawled, raising her eyebrows playfully at Tori.

Tori looked from Jade then to the costume she was holding up for a long moment, before a smile etched it's way onto Tori's face. She gleefully took the headdress, and put it over her head, then dropped to her knees in front of Jade.

"_If be love indeed, tell me how much._" Tori crooned dramatically.

Jade's grin grew bigger, she took one last long drag off the spliff until it was gone, then tossed what was left off stage. Blowing out the smoke, she took Tori's face in her hands, staring at her with the most lovesick expression Jade could muster

"_There's beggary in the love that can be reckoned_." Jade cooed, leaning in to kiss Tori.

Tori almost let her but pulled back at the last second, laughing softly at Jade's little whimper of disapproval as she leaned back on her palms.

Her brown eyes glinting with mirth as she said, "_I'll set a bourn how far to be beloved._"

Rolling her eyes, but smirk still in place, Jade crawled after her.

"_Then thou must need find out new heaven, new earth_." Jade murmured huskily, kissing Tori fully on now. Tori responded in kind, sucking Jade's bottom lip in between her teeth and tugging gently. Jade inhaled sharply through her nose, and pushed Tori on her back, ripping the headdress from her head and throwing it somewhere off to the side.

"Must thou needs." Tori whispered as Jade lowered herself on top of her.

"What?" Jade breathed out, one hand planted on the floor near the side of Tori's head and the other tangling itself in the Latina's hair.

The darker-haired girl's forehead was creased in confusion.

"The line is 'Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth.'" Tori replied, looking up at Jade through her lashes.

Jade chuckled at her softly in disbelief then shook her head, murmuring, "Shakespeare nerd." Her lips gently reclaiming Tori's.

Jade started to slide her hand under Tori's shirt, only for Tori to pull away again.

Jade groaned loudly, almost sounding like she was in actual, physical, pain.

"Did you want to go on a date sometime? With me?" Tori asked quietly.

She was being brave, showing Jade that Andrè wasn't the only one interested in her.

Jade licked her lips and blinked, trying to focus on what the other girl just said, regarding Tori curiously.

"Like a date-date? Or a friend-date?" Jade asked.

Tori fidgeted, suddenly self-conscious. "A date-date. I don't even know what a friend-date is..."

Jade went completely quiet, staring at her with wide eyes.

"We don't have to tell people, of course. My mom would kill me, and I... I don't think I'm quite ready for that. But I was hoping that maybe you and me, we could be..." Tori trailed off, not really sure where she was going with this.

"I mean, I really like you, Jade." She finished, finally finding the courage to look the other girl in the eyes.

She meant it, she really did.

"Vega..." Jade began, taking on a patronizing tone and making Tori's heart sink.

"This seriously can't wait until after?" Jade drawled, tapping her nails against the skin under Tori's navel for emphasis.

Tori gave her a look that said it couldn't.

Jade let her head fall down in exasperation then raised it back up seconds later, so that she meets Tori's eyes.

"I was with Beck for years, Tori. I just want to have some fun for a little while. I'm not ready to jump into any relationships, just yet. So no, I don't want to date you, or anybody. Besides, could you really see the two of _us_ walking down the hallway holding hands, or going to the movies, and other lame shit? Are you even comfortable with doing that?" She searched Tori's face almost desperately, and Tori doesn't know what kind of answer Jade's looking for.

Because Tori definitely could see that for them, maybe not at the current point in time, but eventually? The answer to that was yes. It was something she'd thought about ever since catching feelings for the other girl.

But Jade didn't want that.

"Oh, right. That's okay then, I guess. I just thought..." Tori trailed off, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

She couldn't look Jade in the eye anymore, so she just laid flat on her back and looked up at the ceiling, wishing she could drop off the face of the Earth. Tori's heart was still in her stomach and she tried very hard not to let her emotions show on her face, though she felt like crying.

Jade's hand slid along Tori's stomach, feeling her toned muscles constrict and her skin pimple with goosebumps at the contact. Jade hovered over her, forcing their eyes to meet and looking at Tori with a much softer expression now.

"We don't have to stop, though. I'd say we're pretty clear-headed and sober right now. Wouldn't you?"

Tori stared at her for a moment then slowly reached up and took Jade's wreath off, burying her hands deep into raven locks and bringing Jade's lips crashing back down onto hers as an answer.

Tori really wanted a date, but she'd take whatever Jade offered.

Jade responded with more vigor than Tori's ever experienced, kissing her as if they'd never do this again.

The bell rang, but Jade and Tori were too busy wrapped up in each other to hear it.

In fact, they were so preoccupied with one another they didn't even hear the door to the Blackbox open, or their friends walking into the room.

Tori's shirt was hiked up, showing off a black bra with blue hearts on it. Jade had one of her hands underneath the soft material, palming her breast. Jade's other hand held onto Tori's hip while her knee ground into her center.

All Tori could do was release whimpering moans into Jade's mouth while they kissed each other desperately.

"It smells like weed and bad decisions in here." Robbie's voice suddenly floated throughout the theatre.

The girls broke apart instantly to stare at the intruders in horror.

"What... What're y'all doing?" Andrè asked, looking between Tori and Jade as if they'd stabbed him.

"You mean besides hooking up in the Blackbox? Cause that seems pretty obvious to, like, everyone in the room." Pepper pointed out. She's got a shit eating grin on her face, like she'd been given the best present of all time by catching the two of them in the act.

Tori just had a feeling that Pepper was never going to let this go. In Pepper's mind, this was proof that Jade and Tori definitely had feelings for each other.

Which, Tori supposed the Brazilian girl was sort of right about but that didn't mean Tori was going to give her the satisfaction.

"We were not hooking up! We're, uh," Tori squeaked our, wiping her bottom lip with her thumb, "practicing for Sikowitz's play."

She unhooked her legs from around Jade's waist, pushing at Jade's shoulders.

Jade retracted her hand from Tori's bra and sat back on her heels, allowing Tori to scoot away from her and glaring at the three cock-blocks.

Robbie wasn't buying that excuse though, fixing Tori with a peeved, knowing, look he responded with, "You left before Sikowitz handed out the scripts."

Jade, who was now reluctantly sitting back against the couch to give Tori her space, came to the rescue.

"We used our phones and looked it up online, that's what technology is for. You're a nerd, you should know that." She deadpanned with a flat tone, she was still looking at Tori, not even bothering to give anyone else in the room a second glance. She admired how red the girl had turned.

Robbie crossed his arms and squinted his eyes in challenge.

"We don't even know who's getting what part yet. We still have to audition." The ventriloquist countered.

Jade's eyes snapped from Tori to glare venomously at Robbie, she snarled, "How's this sound then? Mind your own fucking business, Nancy Drew. That satisfy your curiosity?"

He dropped it, shrinking under Jade's glare and shuffling to hide behind Cat.

"Jade... was that really necessary?" Tori half-heartedly scolded, fixing out the wrinkles in her shirt while she avoided eye contact with the rest of her friends.

"He was getting on my nerves." Jade defended herself with a shrug, a soft smirk aimed at Tori.

"Can we talk about how they just assume that they're getting the lead roles?" Andrè chimed in, dropping down to sit next to Jade, placing his hand on her lap possessively.

"Well, we are the most talented In his class." Jade returned, now looking at Andrè with the same smirk she'd flashed at Tori.

They were teasing each other.

Flirting.

Tori pointedly looked away from them, making brief eye-contact with Pepper who also looked a bit disturbed by Jade and Andrè, then Tori pulled out her phone and pretended to text.

Robbie rolled his eyes at his friends from behind the safety of his Cat-shield, while the last bell for second period rang in the background.

"We should get to class." Cat suggested.

"Yeah, if I'm late and the school calls my mom, she won't let me leave the house for three months-"

"I don't want to go back to class." Jade disagreed, glaring over at Robbie. She was going to blame him entirely for that interruption earlier, if it wasn't for him, she and Tori would be extremely happy right now.

Instead, they were all trapped in an awkward atmosphere.

Derek, the security guard, sauntered in, whistling leisurely before noticing the group of teens.

"Shouldn't y'all be in class?" He demanded, hands on hips as he came to a halt and glared at the kids.

"Run." Jade whispered.

Everybody got up and took off, running out of the school. They ran until they were sure that Derek wasn't following them anymore.

They wound up on the bleachers of the football field, passing around a joint Jade had gotten out of her car.

Jade was leaning back against Andrè's legs while he absentmindedly played. with her hair. Her legs were in Tori's lap, she watched in quiet admiration as Tori drew little doodles on her jeans with a permanent marker.

"You drawing any French girls, Jack?" Jade teased.

Tori smirked a little and looked up from her doodles, easily replying, "Nah, just a bunch of girly hearts and stuff."

Jade grunted in disapproval and nudged Tori with her foot with a little too much force, sending Tori off balance and making everyone laugh.

But Jade shot out of Andrè's embrace without hesitate, and caught Tori's wrist before she really fell and hurt herself.

Tori was yanked upright then Jade settled into the empty space next to her, whispering apologies, saying she hadn't meant to kick Tori that hard. Jade fussed over her until Tori grabbed her wrists and laughed gently.

"Jade, I'm fine." Tori insisted.

"You sure you're not bruised or anything?" Jade worried, looking over the arm that she kicked to make sure. There was a small red mark and a little bit of raised skin but nothing that warranted a trip to the nurse.

Jade breathed a sigh of relief through her nose, and Tori was trying to tell herself not to get too excited over Jade's concern, the other girl had rejected her.

She and Jade were just friends now, this was friendly concern.

"Beck just texted me, apparently he's hanging out with Moose and they've just been walking around Scarsborough for the past hour." Robbie piped up suddenly, squinting at his phone after receiving the text.

An awkward silence fell upon the group after that, shattering the peace.

Tori had completely forgotten about Beck, guilt now weighed heavily on her shoulders. She'd abandoned him in his time of need and what was worse, was that now she'd hooked up with his ex-girlfriend. Twice.

She couldn't believe that she had the nerve to give Andrè shit earlier for going after Jade, knowing how she felt. When she just inherently did the same thing to Beck.

'You're a horrible person.' Tori thought to herself bitterly.

"Oh, that's cool... Why's he doing that?" Pepper asked, responding to Robbie when nobody else said anything.

"Uhm..." The ventriloquist glanced at Jade warily then scooted a little ways away from the group.

"He's looking for some girl's house that he's hooked up with a couple times when he was in town." Robbie meakly stated, sounding more disappointed than he should. Tori guessed that it was because it made his theory about Beck still being _oh so_ in love with Jade null and void.

Andrè was looking at Jade, trying to gauge her reaction to this news. Tori found herself watching him, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Why did he have to go and tell her that they fucked?

Jade, herself, didn't seem to react, her eyes never straying from Tori's profile.

"Good for him." The pale girl mumbled, her tone riddled with disinterest.

_That_ had caught Tori's attention, her eyes slid over to meet Jade's, giving her a bewildered look.

Robbie had just told her that her ex-boyfriend was looking for girls to hook up with and she didn't care?

Was that normal?

"Hey, hey! Why don't we go to Nozu? I'm starving and I think they're having Happy Hour now!" Cat chirped, desperately trying to break the awkward silence

"Actually, Jade, you wanna get out of here? Hangout? Just me and you?" Andrè chimed in, boldly.

Jade only continued to look at Tori, who said nothing and avoided looking at her.

"Sure." Jade finally replied with a shrug.

The rest of the gang watched as the two got up and left together. Tori suddenly didn't feel like hanging out anymore, and started walking home.

Robbie looked between Andrè and Jade leaving together in one direction, and Tori walking across the football field by herself.

"It's starting already..." He mumbled flatly.

"Whatty?" Cat asked innocently.

* * *

Tori was about a block from the school when a car pulled up next to her and a familiar voice called out, "We have to stop meeting like this."

Tori strongly resisted the urge to groan, not in the mood for anyone at all, she replied, "Seriously? Are you stalking me or something?"

"Had to leave early to pick my little sister up from school. I saw you walkin', you need a ride?" Jaime laughed her off easily with a shrug.

Tori stopped walking and glared unwelcomely.

"It's really weird and creepy that you keep trying to get me in your car." Was her irritated response.

"She says as she gets _into_ the car." Jaime taunted smugly, wiggling his eyebrows at her as she opened the passenger door and slid into the seat next to him.

Tori rolled her eyes as she buckled her seatbelt, "Shut up, I had a bad day and it's faster than walking."

"Not afraid I'm gonna kidnap you and lock you up in my basement anymore?" Jaime asked teasingly as he started to take off.

"I know how to defend myself if it comes down to it, you creep." Tori said without hesitation.

"Okay, tough girl, what's got you so down then?" Jaime responded with a soft chuckle.

"Just... girl problems." She sighed heavily, looking out the window and hoping he'll be quiet for the rest of the ride.

No such luck.

"I'ma need a little more than that, _mami_. You gotta elaborate, otherwise I can't help." Jaime advised.

"Don't call me that." Tori spoke dryly, side eyeing her supposed rescuer.

"Why not? You were fine with it Saturday. And you were the one feelin' all over me if I remember correctly, _mami_." Jaime countered.

"I was high, and people will get the wrong idea if you go around calling me pet names."

"Well, there's nobody here but you and me."

"_Well_, it makes me uncomfortable, so stop." Tori snarked back, mocking him.

"_Lo siento, princesa_. Won't happen again, promise." Jaime amended softly, a low chuckle rumbling in his throat.

With the conversation seemingly over, Tori turned back to the window and watched as houses and streetlights passed her by.

"We'd make a cute couple though, you gotta admit." Jaime added absently as an afterthought, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the steering wheel.

"I like Jade." Tori responded with another roll of her eyes and an annoyed huff.

Jaime braked extra hard at the stop sign.

"Shit, that's right! I'm so sorry, I totally forgot that you guys are a thing." He exclaimed, then a moment later, under his breath he added, "Coquetear con una lesbiana ... bueno, estúpido."

Tori continued looking out the window, bored, "Jade and I aren't a thing. I like her, and she apparently likes Andre." Pausing to think, she added, "...Or at least, I think she does. Either way she doesn't want to be _with_ me."

It's silent for another beat before Tori uncomfortably commented, "And I'm not a lesbian."

"That sucks. Er, not the thing about you not being gay... That's... cool. Not that I would, uh, have a problem with it if you were gay-"

"I'm not."

"Just sayin'. But the thing about Jade not likin' you back, that sucks. She don't know what she's missin'." Jaime told her sincerely.

Tori looked at him finally and he gave her a thousand-watt grin, she smiled back at him gently. Grateful that he took the time to listen.

They turned on to Tori's street and cruised all the way down it until they pulled up to a familiar, white, house near the end of the block.

"This is it, right here." Tori said, her hand already on the door handle. She couldn't wait to run inside and hide in her room by herself, maybe cry, she hadn't planned that far ahead yet.

"Keep your chin up, _hermosa_. I'm sure she'll come around." Jaime called out to her as she walked up the driveway.

Tori paused and looked back at him, thinking to herself that maybe this boy wasn't so bad after all.

"Thanks, Jaime. For the ride, and the advice." She murmured, leaning in through the passenger side window.

"Anytime." He replied, smiling softly at her.

Tori gives him a final wave then turned and started walking up her driveway.

When she opened the door and stepped inside, she immediately noticed something was off.

The tv had been left on, and was playing some novella Tori had never seen before. Which was strange considering no one but her abuela was home during this time and all she did was sleep until Tori and Trina got out of school.

Suspicious, Tori picked up the remote from the couch and turned the tv off.

"Abuelita?" She called experimentally, heading upstairs to check on her elderly grandmother.

She stopped at the top after hearing a rustling noise and a thump from her parents room.

Tori faintly heard a man's voice that didn't belong to her father shushing someone else in the room.

She quickly crept to the hall closet and grabbed the wooden bat her father kept there for emergencies, then flung open the door to her parents room and ran inside, ready to start swinging.

Only for Tori to find her mother frantically covering herself with the fancy duvet her parents kept on their bed, and father's partner; Gary, throwing a dark 'LAPD' shirt over his head.

Tori said nothing for a few moments, only glancing back and forth between them slack-jawed.

It was one thing to suspect your mother of cheating, it was a whole different ball game to catch her in the act.

"Tori..." Her mother began warily, her voice gentle but there was a stern edge to to it.

The youngest Vega girl snapped her eyes to her mother, a vicious glare now fully consuming her features.

"What are you even thinking?! Why are you fucking Gary, of all people?! What is wrong with you?! What did dad do to you to make you want to hurt him like this?!" Tori shrieked, all the emotions from that day bursting out in this moment.

Holly stared in wide eyed shock before rearranging her face into a neutral, uncaring, expression.

"You shouldn't even be home right now, you're supposed to be at school. That place is very expensive, Tori, and this is the second time you've skipped in the past couple weeks. I'm starting to get worried about you-"

"Don't! Don't try to turn this around on me! You're the one in the wrong here, you're cheating on dad with his best friend-!"

"I think that's enough, kiddo. Why don't you go sit in your room till your dad comes home? Then we can all talk this out as a family." Gary cut in unexpectedly, trying to fasten the belt on his pants as least awkwardly as one can after having been interrupted mid-fuck.

"You're not part of our family, I don't have to listen to you!" Tori tossed at him haughtily, pointing at him threateningly with her trusty bat. Gary swallowed thickly and took a step back toward the bed.

"Tori, put the bat down. Gary, for the love of god, shut up and leave so that I can talk to my daughter." Holly groaned, hand rubbing her temple and eyes rolling back as she felt the beginnings of a headache.

Gary nodded mutely, never taking his eyes off of the bat or Tori as he quickly gathered his things and fled from the room.

A couple minutes later, Tori heard the garage door open and the sound of a car peeling out of the driveway.

"Well-"

"We're not going to talk about this right now, Tori. You're going to go to your room until dinner, while I consider whether or not I'm going to tell your father about you skipping school today." Holly interrupted Tori before she had a chance to even finish her thought.

Tori wanted to scream at the injustice of it all, but she was also too emotionally drained to argue. Choosing instead to go to her room, lock the door, bury her head in her pillow, and scream.

She didn't leave her room for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Tuesday Feb 14th, 2010**

Tori woke up that morning dreading school. Tonight was the Valentine's Ball and she didn't have a date. There was no way that Jade would want to go with her, not after turning the down just the idea of going on a date with her.

Tori knew that Cat really wanted to go, and you couldn't really say no to Cat. She was adorable.

Tori came downstairs to find her whole family sat at the dining table, with what seemed like an entire buffet spread out before them. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, waffles, Orange juice, and even a plate of apple quesitos. Tor's favorite.

The youngest Vega girl narrowed her eyes at her mother, who was in the kitchen, making more food.

The situation was certainly odd, considering her mother never made breakfast for anyone but herself lately.

David Vega beamed at Tori when she came into view.

"¡Mija, ven! Mira lo que tu madre ha hecho." He waved her over, to sit in between him and her abuela.

Tori meekly returned his smile, a rock in her heart as her mind jumped back to the events she'd witnessed yesterday.

She placed a kiss on her abuela's head and then one to her father's cheek as she slid into the seat in between them.

"Buenos días... ¿Por qué comemos todos juntos?" Tori greeted, reaching for the half eaten plate of waffles.

"Mijita, dale las gracias... a tu madre por esta comida... Trabajó duro en ello..." Her abuela scolded Tori hoarsely, old age having taken it's toll on the woman's vocal cords.

The conflicted teen glanced down, her brow furrowed in indecision.

She didn't want to disobey her elders but on the other hand, her mother was a lying, cheating, bitch and Tori just really didn't feel all that _thankful _toward her.

"¿Por qué? Nunca hace comida para la familia ahora." Trina said, rolling her eyes as she saved Tori from having to grovel to her mother.

The woman did not deserve her thanks.

Holly sighed heavily as she joined her family at the table.

"Está bien, Monica. Sólo come por favor." Holly brushed off, her eyes never leaving her plate.

"Sí, Trina está diciendo la verdad, abuelita. ¿No es eso lo que nos criaron para hacer? ¿Ser honesto?" Tori joined in, she plucked up the pitcher of orange juice from the middle of the table and filled her glass. She made a point of looking at her mother while she took a sip.

Holly discreetly shook her head at her daughter, a stern glare on her face as her eyes bounced from David back to Tori. She was silently trying to tell her daughter that now was not the time for the girl's meddling antics.

"¡Suficiente! ¿Qué les ha pasado esta mañana, chicas? Cállate y come, llegarás tarde a la escuela." David himself finally spoke, his authoritative tone leaving no room for arguments.

He pinned each member of his family to the table with a look that said he meant business.

The Vega family finished the rest of their breakfast in tense silence, then the girls said their goodbyes and left for school.

* * *

"Can you believe her? Making breakfast for everyone to try and ease her guilt. Like we wouldn't notice?" Trina scoffed, once they were in the privacy of the older Vega girl's car.

"Notice what?" Tori asked, already having a feeling of what Trina was going to say.

"That she's stepping out on dad! C'mon, don't even try to act like you don't know!"

"Okay, yeah, I knew. But since when did you?"

"I've known for months. I've been a side piece before, I know what it looks like when someone's trying to hide their affair. That's why I always go through my boyfriends phones, you can never trust people nowadays."

"I saw her yesterday, in bed with him. It's Gary, Treen."

"Dad's partner?! What the fuck, that fucking bitch!" Trina hissed.

"What are we gonna do? We have to tell him."

"Uh, Tori, no, we don't. One, that's not our place. Two, mom's shady ass should be the one to tell him. And three, are you trying break up our family? Like, honestly? What the fuck are you even thinking?"

"I'm thinking that our father deserves not to be strung along and end up getting his heart broken."

"I agree, but, again, it's not our place to say anything. That's something mom and dad need to work out on their own. Promise me you won't say anything."

"I promise..."

The sisters tied pinkies then broke apart and headed into the school.

When Tori got to her locker, Pepper was there waiting for her again.

"Hey, what's up?" Tori greeted, smiling easily as she approached her newest friend.

"Hi, nothing. I'm just thinking about how much today is going to suck." Pepper responded, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else but there.

Tori laughed quietly as she put in her combination and opened her locker, noticing a little white stub of paper sitting on her books.

"Not a fan of Valentine's Day?" The Latina murmured distractedly as she stared at the slip in confusion.

It was a ticket to the dance tonight but she hadn't bought one yet. She had no idea where it came from.

"Most people who are alone today aren't." Pepper remarked.

Tori glanced over at her and offered a sympathetic smile as she pinned the ticket to her locker door with a magnet.

"Things aren't working out with you and Andrè?" Tori guessed.

"Ugh, no. I thought he liked me, we hooked up and spent all day together on Sunday, but he's been ignoring me for the past couple of days. Then he and Jade _hung out_ yesterday, doing God knows what. I don't even know what he sees in her, she's so mean. No offense." Pepper ranted, having the decency to look a little apologetic for the slight dig at the object of Tori's affections.

"Maybe he's just playing hard to get... But I wouldn't hold out hope for him, Pepper. He's my best friend and I love him, but he has a short attention span when it comes to girls." Tori went back to gathering her books and stuff, quietly thinking to herself that was the reason why she wasn't too worried about the whole Andrè-Jade thing.

He'd find some new girl to fawn over in like a week and this whole fiasco could be put behind them.

"Speaking of," Pepper scoffed.

Tori glanced over at her again to see Pepper looking at the door, her brow creased in distress.

Tori turned to see what the Brazilian girl was looking at against her better judgment, and received a front row seat to Andrè walking in with his arm around Jade's shoulders.

Jade with her arm wrapped around his waist. They both had cups of coffee and looked very much like a couple.

Tori felt like she'd been stabbed in the heart and the back, and her pain reflected on her face.

She and Jade made eye-contact, Jade's face fell immediately upon taking in Tori's saddened features and she separated herself from André.

Tori turned back to her locker and closed it weakly, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"I've got to get to class." The Latina half-heartedly mumbled.

The bell hadn't even rung yet, but she didn't care. She just desperately needed to get out of there as fast as possible.

Tori quickly left down the hallway, in the opposite direction of her first hour class. She ran into the nearest restroom and slammed the stall door shut, throwing the lock in place, Tori slid down the wall and cried into her hands.

She was such an idiot.

It wasn't that Jade didn't want a relationship, she just didn't want one with _her_.

God, it was all too much.

Tori choked on a sob and tried to quiet herself as she heard the bathroom door open, a group of girls gossiping loudly with each other as they walked in.

"I heard Sarah Peterson blew at least five guys at your party, Veronica." One of the girl's said.

"Oh my god, Hayden, is that true?" Another girl chimed in.

"Of course it is, Leslie, the 'S' in Sarah's middle name stands for Slut. Duh." A third girl said.

The group laughed at that.

"Everybody got more action than me at my own party, how the hell is that possible?" Veronica complained with a groan.

"Uhm, you had hella people drooling over you on Saturday, Veronica. It's not their fault you only want the wicked witch." Hayden pointed out.

"And poor V doesn't even have luck there, I heard from Evelyn Rodriguez that Jade West is into that Tori Vega girl. They even hooked up in your parents room on Saturday, is that true?" Leslie asked.

Tori immediately recognized the name of one of her other crushes, a Latina girl Tori shared her R&B vocals class with.

Evelyn reminded her of Jade a lot actually, she was always mouthing off to the teacher, and showing up late. She constantly flirted with Tori until she blushed.

But Tori had no idea why Evelyn would spread rumors about her.

"Ugh, subject change now!" Veronica snapped, ending the gossip session right then and there as she stormed out of the bathroom.

The girls all immediately stopped talked and clambered over each other to quickly follow after their leader.

Tori finally let out the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding, then stood up and unlocked the stall door.

After opening it, she looked at herself in the mirror and felt nothing but shame for the blubbering mess she'd turned into.

What was worse was that now the entire school was going to think she was gay.

* * *

Tori and her brain came to the mutual decision that classes just weren't in the cards for her today.

Instead, she relocated to the back of the library where she could quietly sob her eyes out in peace. Life was getting to be too much for her, and she was only just barely getting used to being seventeen.

It shouldn't be this hard.

Somebody knelt in front of her a moment later, two rough hands held hers between their's and rubbed comforting circles on the back of her hands with their thumbs.

Tori sniffled and looked up, quickly taking hands back so she could desperately wipe her tears away.

Jaime's friendly face smiled softly at her, deep brown eyes swimming with concern.

"Jade?" He guessed.

Tori nodded mutely. He clicked his tongue and shook his head frustratedly in response, muttering something about "too good for her." under his breath. Tori wasn't sure, she was too distraught to focus.

"Would you like a hug, hermosa?" He offered, stretching his arms out for her, trying to provide comfort in the only way he knew how.

Tori threw herself into his arms, relishing the feeling of human contact.

Jaime wrapped his arms around her securely, like he'd never let go and honestly this had been exactly what Tori needed in the moment.

A friend.

Tori clung to his leather jacket, weeping into his chest so hard that her whole body shook from the force. He stroked her hair reassuringly, softly encouraging her to let it out.

They stayed like that until she ran out of tears, shortly after the last bell for first period rang. He helped her to her feet and offered to walk her to class.

She let him, leaning into his side when he draped an arm around her shoulders. They came to a stop in front of Sikowitz's classroom, Jaime wiping gently at her face with the rough pads of his thumbs.

"Bitches, man. Can't live with them, can't live without them." He murmured with a shrug of his shoulders. Then offered Tori a smile that she returned, albeit less enthusiastically.

"Thank you." Tori rasped, her throat sore and dry from crying but she looked at Jaime with all the gratitude in the word.

"No problem, hermosa. Don't let her get you so down, okay? Your face is too pretty to be stained with tears." He waved off, stepping back and slowly walking backwards down the hallway.

"See you around." Jaime said with a soft smile as a final goodbye, then turned to leave to get to his own class.

Tori faced the door to Sikowitz's class, took a deep breath to brace herself then walked in.

She took a seat at the back, ignoring her friends' odd looks.

She didn't listen to Sikowitz's lesson at all. All she could do was stare blankly at the board in a daze. Tori wondered where Jade was, she wasn't in class and neither was Cat. The Latina had observed this after a quick glance over at her friend group.

But Tori resolved to put the rebellious girl out of her mind, and tried to focus on her studies.

Sikowitz was saying something about how Cleopatra retreated from a naval battle and how it still remained a mystery to this day. Tori was sure it was interesting, but it was at that moment that Jade walked in with Cat, interrupting Sikowitz's lesson.

The two girls met each other's gaze for a few seconds, conveying everything to the other with just a glance. But then Tori dropped hers, unable to look at the girl who broke her heart any longer.

Jade and Cat sat with rest of the group, murmuring quietly how strange it was for Tori not to sit with them.

The Latina ignored them, choosing instead to stare unseeingly at the white board. She kept feeling Jade's eyes on her for the rest of the period, though, occasionally getting caught in a somber staring contest with her.

This happened four or five times, until Andrè glanced back at Tori, and she felt embarrassed at being caught by Jade's new boyfriend.

God, that left a bad taste in her mouth.

Thankfully, class was over soon and Tori raced out of the classroom before any of her friends had the chance to talk to her.

She got to her locker and opened it, Tori's spirits were lifted immensely.

A bouquet of purple violets were sat atop an expensive looking, black matte, gift box. A white, lotus, corsage was tucked nearly on the side of the box, just barely noticeable. There was no note to indicate who these gifts were from but Tori could guess.

She pulled the bouquet out and smelled the violets, then exchanged them for the giant black box that was practically begging her to open it.

Tori sat on the floor, crossing her legs and setting the box on her lap.

Tori pulled the top off and gasped in amazement at the gorgeous, lace, dress that lay inside. She gently ran her hand over the glistening material, feeling the sequins. She couldn't imagine how much this must've cost.

Tori looked over in the direction of Jade's locker to find the other girl already staring at her, trying to hide behind her door.

Jade quickly averted her eyes to the inside of her locker, cheek coloring with embarrassment at having been caught.

'Because _that_ wasn't telling at all.' Tori thought to herself, grinning cheekily over at Jade.

The Latina put the top back on the gift box and got to her feet, putting away the last of the gifts and redoing her makeup with haste, then shut her locker and started to make her way over to Jade.

A boy slid in front of her before Tori could reach Jade however, blocking her path with an eager smile on his face.

"Hey, Tori. Happy Valentine's Day." The boy chirped excitedly.

"Oh, uh, hi. Fred, is it?" Tori returned, finally recognizing him as the boy whose skateboard she'd tripped over the other day.

Fred grinned and nodded, "Dope, you remembered my name."

"I'm pretty sure my dad arrested you one time." Tori said conversationally, laughing a little because who even said "Dope" unironically anymore?

"Probably more than that, I've seen you at the station a couple times." Fred half-chuckled, gazing at Tori with a tender expression.

She was starting to get uncomfortable until he spoke again, _"_Did you get my gift?"

Tori tilted her head to the side, bemused.

"Wait, all of those things in my locker? That was _you_?" She asked, needing confirmation.

"Yeah! So, did you want to go with me?"

Tori's face fell in disappointment, she had been hoping that the dress, corsage, and flowers had been from Jade. That those were Jade's way of asking Tori to the dance, but she had been wrong. Tori tried to quickly cover up her dismay.

"Go where?" She wondered, tubing back into the conversation.

"The ball tonight? I thought you saw your ticket in your locker. It's not really my thing, but you seem like you'd be into it. So, I went ahead bought us tickets. Pretty straight forward, I know, but I've liked you for a really long time, Tori. I've just been waiting for the right moment." Fred replied without missing a beat.

Tori nodded, scratching the back of her head as she processed this.

"Nothing says romantic like dancing all night at the Valentine's Ball, I suppose."

"So, you'll go then? With me?"

Tori glanced over his shoulder at Jade one more time, locking eyes yet again.

Jade's eyes were wide and her brow was furrowed angrily, Tori knew that she had been listening to her conversation.

An awful idea popped into Tori's head.

No, she wasn't really interested in Fred but Jade wasn't an option anymore. The other girl had made that perfectly clear by walking in with Andrè that morning, but Tori didn't really want to go to the dance alone.

So, she looked back at Fred, tossing her hair flirtatiously over her shoulder and smiling at him brightly.

"Sure, I'll go to the dance with you. I'd hate for that beautiful dress you got me to go to waste."

Fred's eyebrows furrow in confusion almost and he tilted his head to the side, he opened his mouth like he was going to say something but was cut off by the slamming of a locker door.

They both turned to see Jade glaring daggers at them, before she stormed down the hallway, scaring the life out of a couple of freshmen who were in her way.

"Shit," Fred muttered, looking a little more than frightened for his life.

He turned back to Tori and seriously asked, "She's not going to kill me, is she?"

"Huh, who? Jade? Why, did you do something to piss her off?" Tori replied, blinking distractedly as she stared after Jade.

"Uhm, didn't you guys like date or something?" Fred voiced his confusion.

Tori barked out a high-pitched laugh.

"No, I'm not gay."

"Oh, okay. Sorry for assuming or whatever. But, wait, didn't you guys hook up at Veronica's or-"

"That was a one time thing. Walk me to class?" Tori hurriedly interrupted, hoping to derail his train of thought.

Fred eagerly grinned and offered her his arm, "Sure!"

* * *

Her next class was R&B vocals, which she shared with Robbie.

Fred walked her to the door and tried to lean in and kiss her, but Tori ducked out of the way quickly.

"Welp, thanks for this. See you at 7?" Tori stammered out awkwardly, praying he'd take the hint and go to his own class.

"And leave you to walk to all your classes alone? What do you take me for, Miss Vega? I'm a gentleman." Fred dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

"My hero..." Tori sarcastically mumbled, her tone oddly dry and vacant.

Evelyn joined them shortly, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. She was wearing her usual dark eye liner and shadow, her jet black hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. Her almond eyes were narrowed at Fred.

"Don't you have a class to get to, assface?" She asked.

"Fuck off, Evelyn. _Tori_ and I having a conversation." Fred hissed.

"Okay, but if you're late again then you're not gonna be eligible to go to the dance tonight, and I'd be more than happy to go with Tori in your place." Evelyn pointed, turning to Tori with a faux sympathetic pout on her face.

"Poor kid's been talking about how excited he is to take you to that dumb ass dance for weeks." Evelyn continued, giving Tori a devilish grin.

"Evelyn! Shut up!" Fred whined.

"You probably should get to class though, I don't want to go to the dance alone tonight." Tori cut in gently.

Fred softened and nodded his head obediently before giving Tori a shy wave, and flipping Evelyn off. He then turned and literally ran to his next class.

"You looked like you would rather be anywhere else than with him." The girl to her left commented.

Tori ducked her head bashfully and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Was it that obvious?" Tori asked guiltily.

"Only to someone who knows how to read women. And word on the gossip vine is, you and West are hooking up. Why're you even going to the dance with him if you don't like him?" Evelyn remarked.

"It's better than going alone." Tori offered with a shrug, before moving past Evelyn and into the classroom.

"Woah, West isn't going with you?" Evelyn reiterated, amazingly surprised.

"Pretty sure she's dating André now, so that isn't really- Oh! That reminds me, quit going around telling everyone about me and Jade. I don't even know how you know that!" Tori hissed, raising her hand as if to smack the other girl's arm but thinking better of it at the last minute.

Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes in response, "I have my ways. You better not be using my step-brother to make your girlfriend jealous Vega. Otherwise you and I are gonna have problems."

"It's a dance not a date, _Rodriguez_. His heart will remain intact, I promise." Tori swore.

The two then moved inside the classroom and took their seats as the last for second period bell rung.

Evelyn snorted and rested her feet on the back of Tori's chair as she stretched in her desk.

"Just let me know if he tries to kiss you again and I'll beat his ass." The hardcore girl said with a yawn.

"How sweet of you." Tori mumbled with a raised eyebrow.

Robbie turned around in his seat just then, giving Tori a doubtful look.

"You're going to the dance tonight with Fred Burnstein?" He asked with a judging tone.

"How did _you_\- Evelyn, quit telling everyone my business!" Tori hissed.

"It wasn't even me this time..." Evelyn promised, raising her hands in surrender.

"Are you insane, Tori?! You can't go to the dance with somebody else, Jade's going to kill him!" Robbie screeched, almost hysterical with panic.

Tori couldn't hook up with Jade without Robbie saying something at first, now he had a problem with her going to the dance with a boy that wasn't even part of their friend group?

"God, am I allowed to do anything, Robbie?!" Tori snapped, slamming her notebook onto her desk and glaring down at it, resolving to not speak to anyone for the rest of class.

* * *

Two periods later, Fred had been walking her to lunch when they'd ran into Jaime.

"Hermosa, you got any plans for tonight? There's this dance-"

"Sorry, dude. You're too late, I already asked her." Fred interrupted the Chicano boy quickly.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jaime hissed with a nasty glare thrown in the other boy's direction.

Fred ignored him and turned to Tori, "You seriously know this loser?"

Jaime scoffed at him, then started rolling up the sleeves of his Calvin Klein button-up.

"You want your ass beat, _pinche culero_?!" Jaime snapped.

"I'd like to see you try, pussy." Fred rebuffed, squaring his shoulders and meeting Jaime's heated glare evenly.

Tori quickly stepped in between them, yelling, "What is you guys' problem?"

"He started it!" Fred threw out.

"I can finish it too." Jaime huffed, pushing lightly against Tori's elbow that was keeping he and Fred separated.

"Oh my god, enough. Fred, Jaime is my friend and if you don't mind, I'm gonna go eat lunch with him." Tori spoke with exasperation and finality, giving the shorter boy a pleading look.

"Uh, I do mind actually-"

"She ain't _actually_ askin' for your permission. Where'd you find this dude, Hermosa?" Jaime interrupted Fred with a sneer.

"Bye, Fred. See you at 7." Tori waved, with that, the Latina grabbed Jaime's arm and lead him to the cafeteria so that they could get their food.

They got their lunch then went to the recording studio to eat.

"You're really going to the dance with that pendejo?" Jaime asked in disbelief.

Tori shrugged as she sipped from her juice pouch.

"He bought me the ticket, a dress, and a corsage. I couldn't exactly say no." Tori replied.

"'Course you can, just go with me instead." Jaime grinned easily.

"I already promised his sister I wouldn't break his heart." Tori responded with a roll of her eyes and a small smile.

Jaime chuckled softly then offered his chips to Tori, who gratefully took them.

"And what does Jade have to say about all this?" He asked curiously.

"Jade's dating Andrè now, so I don't really think she cares." Tori brushed the question off easily.

"Really? When did that happen? Cause I had just came in from the Asphalt when I ran into you and Wonderboy earlier, she looked pissed and Drè looked terrified. Man, I fuck with Andrè but that's some pussy shit." Jaime laughed after he said this, like he thought it was the funniest thing in the world to be scared of Jade.

But his words did give Tori a small amount of hope.

Maybe, it was possible that Jade liked her more than she let on. But Tori was starting to think that she and Jade not going to the dance together would be for the better.

There were already enough rumors going around that Tori was gay now, and the Latina really didn't want to stoke that fire.

* * *

Pepper and Jaime came over at six to help Tori get ready and give her moral support. Cat and Robbie joined them shortly after, they had all decided that they were going to the dance together as friends.

And to help Tori not feel so awkward with her date.

The girls were up in Tori's room, getting ready while the boys waited downstairs.

"How come you're not going to the dance with Jade, Tori?" Pepper asked while curling the Latina's hair.

"She wouldn't have wanted to go even if I asked, she hates dances. Besides, I'm pretty sure she's with Andrè." Tori responded, her eyes on her hands that were folded in her lap.

"Uh, no she's not. The only reason she's going to the dance with him is because she didn't want to go with Veronica. But you should've heard them this morning after you left, he asked her to the dance and she flipped out on him." Pepper quickly refuted.

"Jade's going to the dance with André?" Tori mumbled with a frown.

"That's seriously all you got from that?" Pepper sighed and stepped away from doing Tori's hair for a moment to look the other girl in the eyes, "Look, I don't know much about Jade but from what I've seen she doesn't really care about anything or anyone-"

"_Wow_, gee, thanks. This sure is making me feel better." Tori cut her off dryly.

"_But _I've also noticed that she doesn't get half as nearly worked up about who Andrè spends his time with, as she does when it comes to you." Pepper continued, unphased.

"Yeah, because she feeds off my misery like some kind of demented weirdo." Tori dismissed.

"...If you say so. But that's not what I see." Pepper mumbled, picking the curling iron back up and refocusing on her task.

"She's right, Tori. Jade was so mad when she heard that you were going to the dance with Fred, it was really scary." Cat chimed in.

"I'm sure Jade would never hurt you, Cat." Pepper soothed.

Meanwhile, Tori sat at her vanity, trying to process and make sense of Jade's mindset. If Jade felt some type of way about Tori going to the dance with somebody else, why did she tell Tori that she hadn't wanted a relationship the day before?

What did it all mean?

The girls come downstairs twenty minutes later, and Jaime looked like he was having trouble breathing as he stared at Tori.

The Latina had invited him to come as a hook up for Pepper but it was clear who the object of his affections truly was.

"Hermosa." He whispered.

Tori smiled at him and touched his bicep as she stopped on the bottom step.

"You clean up nice for a creep." She complimented.

Jaime softly returned her smile then offered her his arm. Tori misunderstood and moved out of the way so that Pepper could approach him and clutch his arm.

The pair smiled awkwardly at each other for a moment, then they all start toward the door.

The doorbell rang just as Tori opened it, seeing Fred standing there with a surprised look on his face. The look quickly melted into a beaming smile as his eyes appraised Tori in her gorgeous, burgundy, dress.

He cleaned up nice as well, his spiky hair was slicked back and he even took out all his piercings.

"Wow... You look... like a princess." Fred breathed out, completely in awe of the Latina before him.

Tori smiled and took his arm that was offered to her, allowing him to lead her to his truck.

The other two pairs agreed to follow behind them to the dance, and soon they were off.


End file.
